How to Train Your Dragon: A Retelling
by invisiblewing
Summary: This story generally follows the movie with several extra events, rated T for some graphic descriptions, How To Train Your Dragon belongs to Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell
1. Chapter 1

**9-29-13: First published story.**

**10-13-13: Corrected a bunch of typos and grammatical errors, changed story status to complete.**

**Thanks for** **reading!**

* * *

Welcome to Berk.

My name's Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Great name. It's not the worst name out there, but I think it's pretty close. See, being a Viking means that you get named something that's supposed to ward off evil things like gnomes and trolls. Not like our "charming" Viking demeanor wouldn't do that. But more importantly, your name should be a description of you. So predictably, I'm a scrawny little thing who just doesn't belong here. But I've got nowhere else to go. I live in Berk, and that's the way it's going to stay.

Berk is an archipelago somewhere in the northern sea. We live on one main island, and only half of it is anywhere near habitable. The north side of the main island is a steep mountain nobody dares to climb. The rest? Rock spires sticking out of the ocean. If you fell from high enough, those rocks would go straight through you. The only way to get to Berk is by ship. My village is twelve days north of Hopeless, a few degrees south of Freezing to Death and about a day's journey west of S.O.L. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery. We've got loads of activities to do here, as long as it involves hunting and fishing. We've got charming views of the sunsets. And most nights are clear. The stars are always out, and during the summers, I like to come out to Raven's Point and lie on my back for a few hours, just watching the stars in their slow nightly dance.

But any idyll is always incomplete without its problems. Most places have pests like mice, or mosquitoes or maybe even a snake or two. You know, little problems. Our pests are a little more, um, adventurous, shall we say. Nature's most dangerous…wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Never mind.

* * *

Today started like any other day on Berk. Yawn. Wake up. Go downstairs. Eat a lukewarm, stale breakfast. Head to the armory for the day's work. Same old, same old. It was routine.

I got to the armory where the master blacksmith Gobber was waiting. His full name was Gobber the Belch. "G'morning, Hiccup. Here are the day's orders." He handed me a sheet of parchment that I looked through. A saddle, eight horseshoes, battle axe, sword…wait. Eight horseshoes? I knew that guy, and he only had one horse. Maybe it sprouted four new legs overnight, you know, like a spider-horse? Nah, he probably bought another one.

"Have you started on the horseshoes yet?" I asked.

From the back of the armory, Gobber said, "No, I'm doing the shields. You can make the horseshoes, though." I smiled, knowing the horseshoes would be easy.

I had gathered the scrap iron that I would need when one of the villagers shouted into the armory, "Hiccup, WHY ISN'T MY SADDLE DONE YET!?" It was Hoark. I jumped in surprise and dropped the iron. Some of it landed dangerously close to my feet. I breathed a quick sigh of relief that my toes had been spared. Normally, I wouldn't have been so lucky.

"Because I haven't started working on it yet, that's why," I said coolly, rolling my eyes, arms now void of scrap iron. He was always screaming at me. He had just told Gobber that he needed a saddle maybe an hour ago. I thought he yelled at me all the time because he was angry at something else. He could vent his problems on me, knowing I couldn't do anything back to him. I was too small to take him on. I felt relieved I was facing away from him. If he would have seen me, he'd have jumped through the vista and choked me right in front of Gobber.

"Well, get it done today. Hurry up, Jamu needs it!"

_Jamu is an old, overworked horse,_ I thought. I had seen that horse, and Hoark literally drove her into the ground, making her work. No wonder she always rebelled against him.

From the back of the armory, Gobber called out, "You'll have to come back for it in three days. Hiccup will be done with it then." Gobber knew even though he was an excellent blacksmith, I could kick his butt any day in making saddles. The villagers knew it too. So he always left the saddles to me, and he was fully aware it took about a day and a half to make them. I wasn't gonna start on it until tomorrow anyway.

Hoark turned a fantastic shade of puce and stormed off. "Good riddance," I said underneath my breath. I gathered the scrap iron back up and started over to the coals. I dropped the iron onto the coals and blew the bellows into the fire using all of my weight. Gobber loved to watch me do that and then show me that he could do the same task with one finger.

After the coals were hot enough, I looked at the parchment again. Sword. Sounded good to me. I dropped another chunk of iron onto the coals. While the iron was heating, I found the molds I needed. We always had three horseshoe molds on hand and two molds for swords. Everything here was cast iron. I waited. And waited some more. Blew the bellows into the fire again, trying to keep the temperature hot. Finally, the iron started to show a nice orange color, meaning it was hot enough for the next step.

I grabbed a stone beaker from one of the shelves and placed the hottest iron chunk into it. This time though, the beaker went directly into the fire. Working with cast iron meant we had to deal with molten iron at all times. Safety was a big concern here.

I checked the beaker after about ten minutes and saw the iron was melted. Placing the mold into a vice to hold it, I grabbed the beaker with forceps and brought it over to the mold. I poured the molten iron into the mold without spilling a drop. Perfect. The only person on Berk who could do that better than me was Gobber. That was because he had a prosthesis where his left hand should have been. It was interchangeable, too. In the armory, he always had his prosthetic forceps on. But outside of the armory, I had seen him use prostheses ranging from a skewer to a broom to an axe. He even had a prosthetic drinking mug. Leave it to a Viking to think of something like that.

Besides having a prosthetic arm, Gobber was also missing his right leg. He only used a peg there, because it was too much trouble to switch out a leg rather than an arm.

I let the iron cool in the mold while I prepared another batch of scrap iron for another horseshoe. After a few minutes, I opened the mold and a nice, black (but still searing hot) horseshoe was waiting for me. Using forceps, I took the horseshoe over to a barrel of water and dunked it, listening to the water hiss. One minute in cold water was always enough to cool hot iron down. I took the horseshoe out of the water and filed the edges down to make it wearable.

Ta-da. One horseshoe down. Seven more and a sword to go.

But this was life for me. Routine, like I said. I finished the horseshoes in the early afternoon and ate a late lunch. I knew there was still iron on the coals, but making swords took a little more effort than making horseshoes. That meant the iron needed to be hotter before I did anything with it.

I came back after lunch and made the sword blade and handle. The problem with swords was that they never came out sharp from the mold. Which is why the gods invented a sharpening wheel. After sharpening both sides of the sword, I polished it and got ready to trace out a design to decorate it with.

Before I could start with the artistic side of the sword, Gobber snatched it from my hands and said, "I'll do this one, Hiccup." I shrugged and went over to collect the horseshoes.

"I'm finished with the horseshoes. They'll be here in this sack when Hoark comes to get them."

"Okay, lad. See you tomorrow." So I left.

I was surprised today, since Gobber didn't say anything in character to or about me. He always meant well, but most of his advice and comments to me came out the wrong way. There's a name for that kind of stuff: badvice.

I got back home and went upstairs, not paying any mind to my father who was sitting at the hearth, cooking something over a roaring fire. I got to my room, which was the entire upstairs portion of our house, threw my apron off and went into the bath area. I washed my dusty face off and looked in the basin full of water. My reflection stared back at me, complete with mouse-brown hair and a bony build. I had almost no muscle, simply because there was nowhere to put it. I thought working in Gobber's armory for the past three years would help put on some weight, but that plan backfired on me, just like most of my other ideas. Sure, I might have gained a pound or two, but in the long run, what does that matter? More meat? I took a deep breath, knowing every day was the exact same predicament.

I had always wanted to be a great Viking. Yeah, right. Every time I told myself that, I'd always get a look at my reflection. Every day was the same shock of hair and stick-figure body. There was no way I'd ever become a "Great Viking." I wasn't even sure I'd become a Viking at all! But I figured if I couldn't become a Viking, then I could always help someone else get there. That was the secondary reason I worked in the armory. The primary reason? So I'd be out of the way of the rest of Berk.

I came back downstairs to a pot of mush. My father was at the table, already digging into his supper. I spooned myself a bowl and sat down across the table from him. Neither of us made eye contact. I heard him say something into his bowl, but his mouth was full, so I couldn't understand what he said.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Winter's almost here. The nights are getting cooler."

"Yeah, they are," I agreed.

"Did anyone give you problems at the armory today?" he asked.

"No, I just made horseshoes and casted a sword. Nobody bothered me today."

"Good. Did you finish the battle axe I ordered today?"

"No, we didn't get around to it yet. Gobber was busy with the shields, and I've gotta do a saddle tomorrow. Gobber _promised_ one of the villagers that I'd be done with it in two days." I rolled my eyes in disgust, thinking about Hoark. How he always seemed to buttonhole me at just the right time for someone else's inconvenience.

"Hoark? The one who's always angry?"

"That's him," I said sarcastically.

"Okay, but make sure that Gobber starts on it tomorrow, Hiccup. I have a feeling that our livestock is at risk right now. Nothing's happened in a while, so maybe they're waiting for the perfect time to attack."

I shrugged. I didn't know what to say, because I thought I would jinx everything if I opened my mouth. See, I have this skill, I guess, of being able to turn any situation hopeless.

My father yawned as he finished his supper. "I'm off to bed. See you in the morning."

"'Night, Dad." I said into my bowl of mush. Our conversations were normally short. Tonight's exchange, however, was unusually long for us. My father and I never really saw eye-to-eye. He was a coarse, gruff Viking and I was a scrawny little thing. Thankfully, though, Gobber was an excellent go-between.

I finished my meal, went upstairs and fell asleep as soon as I lay down.

Before going farther, I should point out that Vikings have been in Berk for seven generations. This land is very familiar to us, but all the houses are brand new. We just finished rebuilding about this time last year. And for some odd reason, we hadn't seen a sign of the pests that usually come to plague us during the summer months. Needless to say, some of the villagers had been jittery for the past few weeks, waiting for them to show up. I preferred not to think about it. Life was easier that way.

* * *

Yawn. Wake up, get up, stand up, freshen up. Another day, another order. Hooray. I ambled over to the armory after another stale breakfast, where Gobber was peacefully working away at the battle axe my father had asked me to complete yesterday.

"'Mornin', Hiccup," he said without even looking up.

"I'm gonna get started on Hoark's saddle today," I replied. I saw him nod and then refocus on his work.

Saddles were kinda tricky because you needed a metal frame, which was always interesting to make. The problem we had was that there was no mold that we could use to make the frame. Every horse was different, and I had to make sure the saddle fit well enough so that it didn't hurt the horse's back.

I gathered up the scrap iron I needed and placed it on the coals, heating them up with the bellows again. When the iron was orange-hot, I took it over to an anvil and started hammering away. The sharp _clank-clank_ of the hammer meeting hot iron was abrasive, but it really helped to drown out any other noise. For example, I didn't even notice Hoark yelling at me as I worked.

"HICCUP!" Gobber shouted over the din.

"WHAT!?" I screamed. "Oh."

"You should really learn to pay attention to your customers, lad," Gobber pointed out, motioning to the front window of the armory.

I glanced in that direction and saw Hoark with a purple face, rather than a red one. Before he could scream anything, Gobber said to him, "Hiccup just started your saddle. It'll be done tomorrow afternoon." Hoark huffed and stormed away. I just stared at Gobber.

"Can I get back to work now?" I asked, almost sarcastically. Gobber motioned at me to continue, so I turned back around, just as the frame brushed the side of my arm. "RRRRRRRGGGGH!" I screamed through gritted teeth. I gripped my forearm where the frame had brushed it and hopped around for about a minute before the burning subsided.

"Hiccup, when will you stop being so clumsy?" Gobber asked.

"Not today," I mumbled under my breath as I found some cool water. Geez, that metal smarts when it's hot.

I looked at the frame and thought about breaking it. Stupid frame. Nah, that wouldn't be good. Hoark would come right back and strangle me over it.

I shrugged and started back on pounding the frame into shape. After six hammer strikes, I realized the metal had cooled too much. Great, this was gonna be "fun." I started pounding harder, trying to get the iron to bend into the correct shape, but it wouldn't budge.

"WHY!?" I shouted in frustration to nobody in particular. Gobber had heard me scream that word while working so many times he didn't even look my direction. Stupid frame. Only one choice left now. Reheat it. I put the frame onto the coals and went to work with the bellows. I waited about five minutes until the frame was orange-hot and went to town again. _This_ time, I was going to ignore anyone or anything that might come with the intention of bothering me.

I bent the frame into the shape I needed and let it cool for a while. Perfect time for lunch. I went home and grabbed a bite to eat. Lunch was fast this time around. For some reason, making saddles was really cool in my opinion. Even if it was for someone who hated me.

After returning to the armory, I continued with the saddle, working on the leather crossing between the sides of the frame. By the time I finished for the day, I figured I'd be done with the saddle in the mid-morning tomorrow. I was ahead of schedule.

I went home, ate supper and got into bed. Another day in the books.

* * *

The sound of distant shouting woke me up. It sounded like "Puns!" I wondered why somebody was randomly shouting for jokes and went back to sleep. But the shouting didn't stop. Before I could drift away from consciousness again, I heard the shout come back, this time a little closer. "Weapons! Shields! Hurry up! Get the livestock into their pens, NOW!"

I bolted upright. "Oh-no-oh-no-oh-no," I mumbled at breakneck speed. The pests were here. And they were about to take our livestock if we weren't fast enough. I only knew one thing: get…to…the…armory…five minutes ago. I scrambled out of bed, put my boots on and dashed out of the house. My only goal was the armory. There, I could help the villagers by giving them weapons and tools that they could use to keep the pests away. But I needed to hurry.

I tripped about halfway from home over a rock. I was moving so fast I did a front flip and landed on my back. A villager spotted me airborne and ran in, ready for the kill. "RAAAAH! Oh wait! G' morning!" he shouted with a smile and hurried off to deal with a more pressing problem. I stood up and continued on my way.

As I was sprinting toward the armory, I passed by a bunch of villagers scrambling to get their livestock into their safe enclosures. Many of them wanted to do the same to me too, because they knew if I stayed out too long, I'd get in people's way. I heard people shouting, "Get back inside!" or "What are you doing out here, Hiccup!?"

I was about to reach the armory when my father's hand pulled me aside. He asked the villagers, "What is he doin…Hiccup, what in Odin's name are you doing out here!?" He stared me directly in the face, then shoved me into the armory. "Get in there! Help us out, now!" I couldn't defend myself because there wasn't time. I just took the blame and ran into the armory, where I would be generally out of the way.

I ran over to the apron rack and donned an apron. I turned around to find Gobber switching out his prosthetic forceps for something a little more appropriate…an axe. "Nice of you to join the party, Hiccup. I thought you'd been carried off."

I placed his forceps on a rack and said, "Nah, I'm _way_ too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all…this." I made a show of flexing my arms in complete sarcasm.

"Well, they always need toothpicks, don't they?" he asked. I rolled my eyes at Gobber, knowing he could easily catch onto my sense of humor.

I gathered up a few weapons lying around the armory and placed them at the front window, waiting for villagers to come by and snag them to drive the pests away. I saw my father conversing with another villager. He was close enough for me to hear what they had to say.

"What's the status?" my father asked.

"Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, and at least two Monstrous Nightmares. Most of them are on the east side of Berk." East side. Nothing there except craggy rocks and boulders. Basically land you would not call arable. The pests usually came from this way, advancing like a wave from east to west over Berk.

"Any Night Furies?"

"None so far."

"Good." A nearby wooden statue exploded, raining kindling and burning debris all around my father and his cohort. One of the pieces of flaming shrapnel landed on his shoulder plate, which he casually brushed off. For my father, there were more pressing issues at the moment. "Take your team toward the eastern side of Berk. Concentrate your fire over the lower bank. Do _not_ let them get near the livestock."

"Right." His cohort left and motioned for his team to follow.

My father's name is Stoick the Vast. Just like Hiccup fits me, Stoick fits him. All seven feet two inches of muscle. Long flaming red hair and a massive beard to match. He has a coarse, gruff accent, perfect for a Viking. He could probably beat an ox in a strength contest. It doesn't help my image that my father is the chieftain of our little Viking tribe here on Berk. Every day, I get bizarre looks from people wondering how in blazes I'm going to run this tribe when I become leader.

I turned around to find Gobber trying to open the side door to the armory when a blast of fire met the door. He quickly shut it.

"Why in Thor's name do they _always_ do that!?" Gobber shouted into the armory. I just kept running back and forth, delivering more weapons to the front of the vista.

See, we don't have your usual kind of pests. We have dragons. Lots of them. In a village that is plagued several times a year by flying, fire-breathing beasts, most people would leave. Quickly. But not us, we're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues.

I watched the show through the front vista. Several Vikings were toting buckets of water, hoping they could extinguish any flames that might appear. Some were carrying weapons, ready to drive the dragons back. And some were trying to get the livestock back to safety. I thought it was ironic that what we called "safe" was in a wooden building. Last time I checked, wood is decently flammable.

"ASTRID! GET WATER OVER HERE! WE'RE ABOUT TO LOSE A HOUSE!" a Viking shouted just outside the armory.

Five of the Viking teenagers about my age ran across the way, ready to extinguish flames coming from a house nearby. Everyone could tell it was on fire, because we could see it smoldering, but no flames were visible. But they were ready. They were also smart enough to know _not_ to open the front door. Several (more ignorant) Vikings have been injured by this inconvenient phenomenon called a backdraft. As the flames licked out, each one spent their bucket on the flames in the hope that they could salvage the house. But when Astrid emptied her bucket, the house exploded. Astrid hit the ground to avoid the shrapnel. So much for that idea.

"NO!" she screamed. She pounded the earth with her fist.

Astrid is one of only two teenagers I can halfway relate to here on Berk, the other being Fishlegs. She's the favorite of our generation, simply because she's a tomboy and actually has the physique to become a Viking in the near future. She's not much bigger than me, but for whatever reason, she's crazy strong. There is nothing that scares her.

Fishlegs is an overweight Viking teenager with a slightly high-pitched voice who is a total geek. He's not quite a loser like I am because he's pretty strong himself and doesn't think about what he's about to get into, both of which are desirable traits for a "Great Viking." He always, and I mean _always_, expresses his (profoundly deep) knowledge about dragons in role-playing game terms.

As what was formerly the house collapsed, I was transfixed watching Astrid stand up and walk toward the armory. Everything just looked perfect about the scene. There was a dull fire burning in the background, and Astrid was in the foreground. I knew she and the other four teenagers were gonna demand more water, but my feet wouldn't do anything to help me. Eventually, I snapped out of my trance and refilled their buckets as fast as I could move. Nobody complained, because we all knew exactly what each person needed to do. I was the supplier for weapons, shields and water when the need arose. They helped keep the village doused when dragons decided to arrive.

To my left, my father had just spied a Nadder hovering over some sheep. He grabbed some wooden scaffolding and heaved it straight at the Nadder's head. The scaffolding shattered, forcing the dragon to retreat with a snarl. I didn't think anyone, dragon or Viking, wanted to have a bone to pick with my dad when he was angry. There was even a rumor going around Berk that when my father was a baby, he popped a full-grown dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Did I believe it? Absolutely.

Aw, man. Just once, I wanted to be one of them. Their job was soooooo much cooler than being stuck in an armory. I wanted to show everyone I could handle keeping the village in order, whether it was fighting dragons or keeping fire at bay. So I decided to escape and find a bucket. I was gonna help Astrid and them keep everything wet.

I had gotten one leg over the vista ledge when Gobber snagged my vest and hoisted me back into the armory. "You're not going anywhere, Hiccup. You're staying right here."

"Aw, please? I need to make my mark!" I pleaded with him.

"Oh, you've made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places! I'm not gonna tell you again, you're going to stay here. Period."

"Please, just this once. Give me two minutes. I'll kill a dragon, my life will get infinitely better, and I might even get a date."

Gobber snorted. "_Kill_ a dragon? You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" He lifted a bola, which was two iron balls connected by about three yards of rope. "How could you bring a dragon down without it?"

In a stroke of perfect timing, a villager reached into the armory and grabbed the bola from him. Gobber jumped and turned around, watching the villager swing the bola above his head like a combination between a lasso and a sling. He grunted and threw the bola, where it entangled a Gronckle. The dragon crashed to the ground, and five villagers ran over to subdue/kill it.

"Okay, maybe I can't throw one, but this," I motioned to my latest invention, Mangler, "will throw it for me." I touched Mangler, where it sprung open, shooting a bola straight toward a villager waiting at the vista for a shield. I jumped aside as the bola was launched, but the villager wasn't so lucky. The bola conked him in the head and knocked him out cold.

"See, now this right here is what I'm talking about!" Gobber shouted at me, starting to turn a shade of red.

"I-it's a mild calibration issue. I'll fix it."

"Hiccup," he said. "If you want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop…" he paused, waiting for the right words to come to him. "…All…this." He motioned in my general direction as he finished his suggestion on how to improve my dragon-fighting skills.

"You just motioned to _all_ of me!" I shouted.

"Yes! That's it! Stop being all of you!" There it was, the famous badvice. Right on cue. I rolled my eyes.

"Ohhhhhhh," I started, trying to look and sound intimidating. It was difficult, since Gobber was roughly twice my size.

"Ohhhhhhh, yes," he said mockingly.

"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game, keeping this much raw…unfettered…Viking-ness contained! THERE WILL BE CONSEQUENCES!" I shouted at him.

Without missing a beat, he leaned in close and said quietly, "I'll take my chances." He turned around and handed me the sword from yesterday, saying, "Sword. Sharpened. Now." The weight of the sword dropping into my hands almost made me collapse. He strode off. I clumsily made my way over to the sharpening wheel and got to work.

Gobber opened the door, this time a little more cautiously. He peeked around the opening and apparently saw there was nothing coming, so he swung the door open and started out. "You know what to do, Hiccup."

I glanced at him from the sharpening wheel.

"Good. Stay," he said, as if I were a dog. He thought about what he had just said and added "Put." He turned to run out and wheeled back around, adding "There." He paused. "You know what I mean." I just stood there dumbfounded, waiting for him to decide he was finished with his broken conversation with me. He must have been because he turned back around and screamed "YAAAAAH!" while holding his prosthetic axe up, ready for dragon blood.

I made a show of returning back to the sharpening wheel, but I had no intention of getting Gobber's sword ready, especially when he wasn't going to use it tonight. I glanced around the armory, noticing I was the only one there. Good. I ran back to the stock area and grabbed as many axes and swords as I could. I hoisted them into the front vista for other villagers who were nearby to grab. After two more trips, I decided there were enough "puns" at the vista. It was time for the show. Mangler.

I hurried over to Mangler, wondering why it fired at a touch. Testing wasn't like this at all. What was going on? The firing mechanism was still intact. The elastic band wasn't showing any aging. The targeting reticule was still there. What about the safety? That had to be it. The safety pin wasn't set. My shoulders slumped. "Oh, you're a bright, clumsy, skinny Viking, Hiccup," I mumbled under my breath. I engaged the safety pin after loading another bola I had made in my spare time. Instead of two iron balls, this one had three. The rope was about five yards long and had a branch point in the middle, which accounted for the third ball. In test launches, I found shooting a three-ball bola was better than a two-ball bola, at least from what Mangler could do.

Briefly, I thought about my next design for a bola. I came up with it two days ago, where the three ropes and balls were connected to each other using a central ring, rather than simply attaching a second rope in the middle of the first. The forces during rotation were unequal on the iron balls, so I thought replacing that simple junction with a ring would make the bola fly straighter, farther and harder. But the design had to wait. I was planning on making some rings later today because they only took a few minutes, but the dragon invasion put those plans on hold. I had to make do with the supplies I had available.

Slowly, I wheeled Mangler to the open door Gobber had left so kindly for me to waltz right on through. I peeked through the door and saw all of Berk was still fighting the invading dragons. I had to take my chance now. Mangler wasn't designed to be light for no reason. I could run at a near full-tilt pushing Mangler along. I shoved Mangler through the door and headed for my designated spot. Well, it was designated in my mind that I was gonna take down a dragon from this spot: Raven's Point.

Raven's Point is located on a promontory a couple hundred yards from our village. It's easily accessible from home and is a pretty straight walk. It overlooks the open ocean for about a half mile before we can see the other half of Berk, the half that is nearly uninhabitable because of a steep mountain rising smack-dab in the middle of it.

I wheeled Mangler along my designated route to Raven's Point, shouting to the villagers, "Armory's open! Get whatever you need from there!" Several villagers I passed looked at me curiously, but didn't ask what I was doing. Not because I had the coolest contraption Berk had ever seen. It was because they had their own things to worry about.

I made it to Raven's Point without much fuss, although I was a little out of breath at the end. Can't forget, it's an uphill climb to here.

I looked back down to Berk and saw the house that had exploded earlier was nearly burned to the ground. I watched a dragon zip behind another house across the way. Nothing happened for a brief minute. I waited. The house didn't explode like the last one. It melted. Just flat _melted_. I had never seen wood do that before. Whoa, that fire must have been hot. What didn't surprise me, however, was the same dragon showing itself and terrorizing the villagers. It was a Monstrous Nightmare, I was sure of that.

After sixteen years on Berk, I had come to know about each invading dragon's _modus operandi_. The Monstrous Nightmare is a large red dragon, about sixty feet long from snout to tail tip. It has no front legs, so it uses the claws on its wingtips to crawl around. It can't stand on its hind legs very long, but sometimes it will to get a better angle of attack on something. Its head is large enough to swallow a Viking whole. Thankfully, I've never seen that happen. Nor do I want to. But what really impresses me about the Monstrous Nightmare is its fire. It behaves more like a pyroclastic flow. Like lava. Its fire is extremely viscous and flows like a liquid. Oh, but that's not all. One of the M.N.'s favorite attacks is to coat itself in its own fire and attack anything that moves near. The dreaded fire jacket. Man, _everybody_ hates that. How do you fend off something that's covered in fire?

That must have been why the house collapsed in fire, so the Monstrous Nightmare could get its fire jacket going. I watched as people hurriedly ran away, trying to find some other not-so-dangerous dragon to fight and maybe even kill.

I looked back to the exploded house's foundation and saw a Hideous Zippleback sauntering over to the next-door neighbor's house. We just call it a Zippleback, because it's hideous enough. No redundancy needed here.

The Zippleback is a greenish dragon with two heads. It has two long necks coming out of one massive four-legged body with two tails. Each head serves a purpose. One head breathes flammable gas, the other lights it with a spark. That was probably why the house exploded, because of that spark. Most of the time, the Zippleback knows what it's doing, and each head does what it's supposed to. But there have been several instances when the same dragon disagrees with itself. We've killed several Zipplebacks because they were bickering with themselves. So, to that I say: Would it really get you noticed, or did you just get lucky? My money was always on luck. No brute strength required when a dragon isn't focused on you.

The Zippleback crashed one of its heads through a top window and greenish gas came spilling out of its mouth, filling the house. Two villagers ran out of the door just before the dragon stuck its other head in and produced a spark with a kind of jerking movement. The house exploded a second later, sending a shockwave through my chest that felt like a punch.

I looked at both razed houses and saw that the dragons weren't interested in heading my direction. That was good, because I was going to bring down a dragon. Like Gobber said, I couldn't throw a bola, but Mangler sure could. It had proved its worth earlier tonight.

I could have turned Mangler around and ensnared either the Nightmare or the Zippleback. I could have done it. I mean, seriously, killing any dragon for all of Berk to see would get me noticed. I figured a Nadder or Gronckle would do the trick for that. A Zippleback? Two heads—twice the glory, because we never thought about whether it was at odds with itself or not. A Nightmare would be absolutely date-worthy. Only the bravest (or dumbest) Vikings go after those. But no. I was going for the whole shebang. The impossible. I wanted a Night Fury. Nature's most dangerous airborne creature. This dragon was so legendary I couldn't connect a reward to killing it.

Nobody on Berk has ever seen a Night Fury. _Nobody_. Not even my father. But we all know what it can do. From our guesses, it's a moderately-sized dragon that never lands. But don't forget that "moderately-sized" to us is still about four of my dad put together. It's gotta be a black dragon, otherwise someone would have seen it by now. But, hey, it could be cyan or ecru or chartreuse and nobody would be able to tell. It could just be that fast. But we're Vikings, we think simply. So we say it's fast _and_ it's black. It never steals food. It never lands. It just serves as a diversion. And it's ridiculously good at its job. You can always tell a Night Fury is ready to attack. You can't see it, but you can't mistake its cry. The first thing you hear from a Night Fury is a high-pitched ballistic scream that gets louder and higher in pitch. This is your two-second warning to get to someplace where you don't think it's gonna strike. Hope you get super-lucky. Once it gets close enough, it fires a bright blue fireball at its target which explodes on contact. Nobody has ever seen it miss. Ever. It doesn't help us that the Night Fury (or Night Furies, we're not really sure if there is more than one) is incredibly smart. Our watchtowers are always its first targets. We can see dragons coming and going from the watchtowers and we can shoot them down with double trebuchets built into them, so why not get rid of those quickly?

I checked to see if the watchtowers were still there. They were. They were still firing boulders at dragons that had decided to land and corral our livestock. No Night Fury…yet. I was gonna wait for it to show up. I was gonna nail it with the bola from Mangler, find it, kill it and bring its heart back to my father. I was gonna show everyone in Berk I _could_ kill a dragon. I was gonna be the first one to not only see a Night Fury, but kill it as well. Then I was gonna show its corpse to everyone else on Berk. Instant fame, instant glory, instant dates, instant no-more-making-fun-of-Hiccup. Foolproof, right?

I opened Mangler to get it ready for the one chance I had to snag a Night Fury. Mangler worked as a spring-loaded launch ballista for bolas. Basically, I had two elastic bands stretched to their limits, ready to fire the bola whenever I wanted. I didn't have to wait by twirling the bola around my head at all. Just pull a trigger, and Mangler would fire. Just like magic.

I looked around toward the other half of Berk, trying to gauge where the Night Fury might show itself. Probably somewhere around the watchtower to my right. That way was east. Where the dragons were coming from. The east watchtower was best situated, since the land it was on was higher than the rest of the village part of Berk. So I angled my shot to be somewhere between the mountain and the watchtower. If I shot the Night Fury and it landed in the water, I assumed it would float. And if by some chance, it hit land when it came down, so much the better.

I thought it was peculiar that the watchtowers were still standing, because the dragons had been here for about half an hour. Normally, the Night Fury will raze both towers within ten minutes. Most of the time, it's the first dragon to arrive here.

I listened for any sign of a Night Fury. Somehow, tonight, I was able to ignore the din coming from Berk and focus only on the Night Fury I knew had to be somewhere nearby. On my game. In the zone. I just didn't know when it would attack. I waited, listening.

From out of nowhere came a high-pitched scream, starting off in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from near the mountain across the bay. North. "Oh, man. Here we go again…" I mumbled. It was the ballistic scream of a Night Fury. And judging by the way the sound was headed, the Night Fury had its sights on the watchtower I had picked out.

I heard a villager on the watchtower shout, "NIGHT FURY!"

Immediately afterward, my father shouted, "JUMP!"

About a hundred yards out to sea appeared a bright blue flash. I watched the fireball streak in slow motion toward the watchtower, where it exploded, raining kindling all over the area. I saw at least four Vikings jump off the watchtower, yelling in panic. The catapults that were on top of the watchtower buckled and bent in two. They collapsed, tumbling into the water with a tremendous splash.

For a brief instant, the fire coming from what was formerly the watchtower backlit a shape. It looked like a dragon, and it looked black. The Night Fury.

Gods, this was terrifying. What if the Night Fury saw me? What if it decided to aim for Mangler? The heck with it. I didn't trudge all the way out here just to get scared and run screaming back into the armory. I was gonna bring this Night Fury down.

I heard the scream start again, from the same general area, heading in my direction. "CRUD!" I yelled and jumped off of Mangler. The blue fireball sizzled over me and struck a house somewhere on Berk. I didn't pause to look where it hit, because I heard the Night Fury's wings swish maybe fifteen feet above me. This was my chance. I scrambled back onto the platform I had designed Mangler with and focused on my target area. Waiting to catch a glimpse of the dragon we as Vikings feared the most.

…Aaaaand predictably, I only saw the stars in the clear night sky. Great. No dragon. It had disappeared just as quickly as it had showed up. I couldn't see it against the night sky. But maybe I didn't have to see the dragon _directly_. No, it would obscure the stars as it flew around. _Bingo._ I scanned for any stars that disappeared and reappeared in quick sequence. Heck, this beat staring through the targeting reticule. I was getting a headache looking through that thing. Maybe I could even follow the Night Fury just by looking at the stars. I knew it was elusive, but I also knew it wasn't invisible.

Dragon raid aside, the night was absolutely perfect for stargazing. Every star in the night sky was in full force, twinkling down on Berk like it was meant to be. I kinda wished there wasn't an emergency tonight, because this was the perfect time to lie on my back watching the stars, trying to find patterns. Constellations. Make up stories in my head about what the constellations meant. I relaxed thinking about this. Man, just being here tonight was amazing. Who cared about the story (or lack thereof) that I would eventually tell? Tonight was perfect. Just…

THERE! A few stars suddenly flickered, like something had passed in front of them. My heart skipped a beat. Here it was, my chance for legendary glory. I followed the disappearing stars, knowing full-well this was the Night Fury. "Come on, come on. Get closer," I whispered. The Night Fury made a large, banked turn and was heading back toward where the watchtower originally was. It was on a slight downward track.

This. Was. It. The only chance I was gonna get for the rest of the year. I set up the bola's path where I thought the Night Fury was going to cross. Judging by the speed of the disappearing/reappearing of the stars, I estimated the Night Fury wasn't in any hurry. The size of the silhouette told me the Night Fury was at most a hundred yards away. I put my right index finger on the trigger, ready to pull when I was absolutely sure the Night Fury would cross my target line.

"Three…two…one…" I mumbled. I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled the trigger. There was a mechanical _click-clank_ sound as Mangler launched the bola without hesitation. The force of the launch sent me sprawling on the ground about five feet away. I scrambled up to my feet, watching the bola head on my target line, watching the stars disappearing and reappearing. Hoping they would meet at the same time. Feeling they would meet at the same time. _Knowing_ they would meet at the same time. Slow-motion took over again. Those last few yards took an eternity, although I knew it was just a fraction of a second. My mind was racing like crazy, trying to will the bola on straight, but time just wasn't fast enough for my mind. I sucked in a quick breath.

I didn't see it happen, but I heard it. There was a distant _thwap-thwap-clunk_ sound that could only mean one thing: I shot a Night Fury. Not only that, but there was also a screech followed by a low, long moan, nothing like the ballistic scream that we had gotten so used to. And it sounded like the dragon was losing altitude. Quickly. I watched the stars disappear and reappear where the Night Fury was and saw the dragon really was going down. I watched it as long as I could, ready to venture out at a moment's notice to find my catch. It was headed to the eastern base of the mountain on the other side of Berk. Got it! Ladies and gentlemen of Berk, worry no longer! I, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, did the unthinkable!

"I DID IT! I REALLY DID IT! YES! I SHOT A NIGHT FURY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs with an emphatic fist pump to the rest of Berk, hoping someone would turn around and applaud me. "DID ANYBODY SEE THAT?!"

From behind me, I didn't hear applause. I heard a low snarl. I turned around, scared of what might have been there. Maybe the Night Fury. Maybe the bola hadn't done its job and missed. I looked at the dragon that was the source of the noise.

It was definitely _not_ a Night Fury. But it was a Monstrous Nightmare. "…Except you," I said sardonically. Menacingly, the dragon brought its back leg down hard on Mangler, where it crunched to splinters. Oh, crud, this dragon was _ticked_ that I had shot down its best friend. Time to run for my life.

Days later, I would regret this. Why didn't I run straight toward the armory? Oh no, I took a long route. A scenic route, I guess. Screaming at the top of my lungs, hoping somebody would miraculously come to the rescue, I ran at top speed, trying to lose the dragon.

Distantly, I heard my father yell to some villagers, "DO _NOT_ LET THEM ESCAPE!"

I ducked behind a large pillar that held a firelight. It had a metal base about eight feet tall and the rest was wooden. I knew the pillar was between me and the dragon, so its fire couldn't get to me unless it snuck around the pillar.

A wave of heat met me from both sides. I crouched down, making myself the smallest target possible as the dragon's pyroclastic fire flowed on both sides of me. It was lasting so long that I thought my clothes were going to catch fire.

After an eternity, the fire stopped. I briefly watched it flow down the path toward sea. Nothing to hurt between it and the water. But I had more pressing things to worry about. Like the fact that the metal base on the pillar was now glowing cherry red. And I still heard the dragon breathing from the other side of the pillar. I snuck a peek around the pillar to my right, where I saw the dragon's tail. I had to take this chance and run. I hoped the dragon was looking for me from the _other_ side of the pillar.

I heard a grunt from behind me as my father dove in and tackled (yes, that's right, he _tackled_) the dragon, turning its attention to him and not me. The dragon glared at my father and tried to blast him with fire, but only a cinder came out. "You're all out," my father said to the dragon with a leer. He lunged in, smacking the beast in the snout with a massive punch and followed it up with a lightning fast roundhouse kick to its lower jaw. The dragon grunted and took off, not wanting any more of the world's toughest and most formidable Viking: my dad, thank you very much.

I heard a low groan right in front of me as the pillar began to wobble. A structural groan, like wood is about to snap. The metal frame was buckling and was ready to give at any moment. Embers from the firelight were raining down around us. The metal base snapped like a twig, sending the firelight barreling down Berk. Toward the other Vikings keeping tonight's catch of dragons at bay. The torchlight ripped straight through the crowd of dragons and Vikings, forcing the villagers to scatter. This gave the dragons two seconds to escape which was about an hour longer than needed to get away with the livestock. The last thing I saw was each and every single one of the dragons we had captured flying away with our sheep. Our goats. I heard their panicked cries getting more and more distant, like it was an insult to me for disobeying my orders. Aaaaand, once again, the prospect of a hungry winter was upon us. All it took was one decision by me. Five minutes, and I ruined the entire rest of the year for _all of Berk._ Again.

But that wasn't the biggest emergency at hand. My father was glaring daggers at me like he was ready to kill someone. A Night Fury would have run for cover. I looked up at him with absolutely no idea on how to act right now. This was insane. I had never seen him look so angry at anyone or anything. Even a dragon.

"H-hi, Dad…" I managed to whisper, trying to make myself as small as possible, trying to become so small he would think I was invisible. I looked toward where the firelight had rolled through Berk and saw the villagers all trudging in my direction, murder on their minds. I looked back up at my father and, as quickly as possible, said, "Okay-but-I-hit-a-Night-Fury."

Without saying a word, he grabbed me forcibly by the arm and dragged me back to our house. I had no idea what punishment lay in store for me. I didn't even know a crime this horrendous could be committed by anyone.

"It's not like last time, Dad. I really actually truly _did_ hit a Night Fury. You were busy fighting the dragons, and I had a very clear shot. It went down just beyond Raven's Point. Let's get a search party together and go find it before…"

"STOP." His face was the color of his beard. Red. Flaming red. Hoark would have been proud. I shut up very quickly. No matter what I had on my mind, if I said another word, I'd exacerbate the situation. "Why is it when you get out against orders, disaster falls on Berk? Can you not see I have more important things to worry about here? Winter is here in two months and I HAVE AN ENTIRE VILLAGE TO FEED! ALL OF OUR LIVESTOCK IS GONE! _GONE!_"

"Between you and me, I think the village could do with a little _less_ feeding, if you know what I mean," I said softly, trying to ease the tension. I realized that the villagers had made it close enough to hear me, because I noticed a few of them grumbling.

"THIS ISN'T A JOKE, HICCUP! Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

I thought up a pseudo-lie on the spot. "I-I can't stop myself. It's who I am, Dad. I just see a dragon, and I have to just…_kill it_." I made a wrenching gesture with my hands, tearing off an imaginary dragon's head.

My father sighed in disbelief as his hand met his forehead. "You are many things, Hiccup. But a dragon slayer is not one of them." My shoulders slumped. "Get to bed. We'll talk in the morning." I looked around, noticing that dawn's light was just breaking.

"Um, it's morning now, so can we talk?" He glared at me again and pointed to our house, which surprisingly, wasn't touched by the raid. I started walking, Gobber right behind me.

I heard a teenager's voice to my right. It was Snotlout Jorgenson. He could talk a big game, but he had no courage whatsoever. He thought he was the greatest Viking ever to set foot on Berk. He had a good, stocky body build, so that bought him some favors with the tribesmen. "Oh, man. I've _never_ seen anyone mess up that badly. That was awesome! Thanks, Hiccup, for making us look good."

"You're welcome!" I said sardonically. "Just doing my best to help out."

Gobber pushed him out of the way, where he shouted "Ow!" and fell down. Laughing.

"Really, I did. I brought a Night Fury down," I told Gobber as we made our way back up to the house, trying to convince him.

"Mm-hmm," he said, not believing a word of it. He smacked me in the back of the head lightly, probably trying to force that "lie" out of my mind as we walked up the steps to my father's house.

"He never believes me. He always looks at me with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich," I stated. In a show of mock brute strength, I puffed out my chest and started to mimic my father. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms! Extra guts and glory on the side! This here, this is a talking fishbone!"

"You're thinking about this all wrong," Gobber started. "It's not what you look like. It's what's _inside_ he can't stand."

I looked at him with a twisted, confused face, thinking about his badvice. "Thank you, for summing that up for me," I said, not the least bit sarcastically.

"Look," Gobber started. "All I'm saying is stop trying so hard to be something that you're not."

"I just wanna be one of you guys." I trudged into my house without saying another word. There was nothing to say. As usual, I knew and everybody else knew the exact same thing. I was the sole cause of the problems on Berk. Not the dragons, they just came and went. We were living in their territory. But if I weren't here, everybody knew there would be more food in the winter. Berk would be a safer place. A happier place.


	2. Chapter 2

I had gotten into bed, but I never went to sleep. The firelight tearing its way through Berk kept on replaying itself in my head over and over again. Burning itself into my mind. I watched it in fast-forward, slow-motion and reverse about fifty times every minute. It always ended the exact same way. Dragons carrying our livestock away from Berk. From downstairs, I heard my father and Gobber talking about me.

"What am I going to do, Gobber? I can't just let him stay here and work in the armory forever. That boy has got to change sometime."

"We all want him to. It's about time for him to, anyway," Gobber replied.

"Ever since Hiccup could crawl, he's been…different."

After my father had said the word "different," Gobber choked on his ale that he was drinking from his prosthetic mug. He coughed a few times, and then a _ploonk_ sounded. Gobber had lost his prosthetic tooth in his front lower jaw, spitting it out into his mug. It was a worn-down rock about double the size of a normal tooth. "Great," he mumbled. He tried fishing the rock out with his hand, but it wouldn't fit all the way to the bottom of the mug. Such a problem was a mild inconvenience to a Viking, because Gobber just downed the rest of his drink, catching the rock between his teeth like it was nothing.

"I take him out fishing," my father continued, mindless of Gobber's suffering. "And…and he goes looking for trolls or something."

"Trolls exist!" Gobber said, holding his rock-tooth in his hand. "They steal your socks! But only the left ones. What's with that?" My father rolled his eyes at Gobber as he pushed the rock back into place in his mouth. A light _tink-tink-tink_ sounded as Gobber gently hammered the rock back into place with the bottom of his mug. He checked it experimentally with his tongue.

"What do I do with Hiccup?" my father asked again.

"Put him in dragon training with the others," Gobber replied.

My father stifled a small laugh. "Gobber, I'm being serious."

"So am I."

"No! He'd be killed before you even let the first dragon out."

"Oh, you don't know that," Gobber said, brushing my dad's inference aside.

"Yes, I do know that."

"No, you don't!"

"When I was a boy, my father told me to bang my head on a rock until the rock split," my father started. "And I did it. I thought I was crazy! But I did it. And do you know what happened?"

"You got a headache," Gobber said sarcastically.

"The rock split. Just like my father had said. From that point I knew what I wanted to be and what I was going to become. I was going to be a Viking. I knew after that I could explore new lands, move mountains and tame seas! But Hiccup…he's not that boy. How can I let Hiccup participate in dragon training when I have no idea if he'll even survive the first day?"

"Look Stoick," Gobber said, trying a different approach. "You can't protect him forever."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you can only prepare him. The sad truth is you won't be around all the time to protect him. He's going to get out there again, you know. And if his 'Night Fury' thing is true, I'd bet he's going to try and find that dragon as soon as we leave."

My father scoffed at Gobber. "There's no way Hiccup could have brought down a Night Fury. They're invisible. _He's_ not strong enough."

"I'm just saying, what if he did? That...thing...he was building on his own time, you know, the one that shoots the snares?" My father nodded at him, knowing full-well what Gobber was talking about. "Well, it wasn't in the armory when everybody returned home. I'm just saying that I think he at least tried to bring down a dragon."

My father thought for a little bit. But he didn't seem concerned that I had shot down a Night Fury. He sighed in exhaustion. "I'll figure out something to do with him. Meanwhile, I've got to get food on everyone's table before winter sets in."

"I can help you with that, Stoick. But remember, _dragon training_."

A wooden chair scraped across the floor. Gobber was getting up to leave. He opened the door and left, closing it behind him. After about ten minutes, my father got up. I listened to what he was doing. He opened the door, and closed it behind him. I waited, hoping he wasn't shamming. After about ten more minutes, I didn't hear anything else, so I assumed he left. Time to go, just like Gobber had said. I threw on my boots and quietly walked into the upper section of our living area, making sure I was the only one in the house. The skylight was showing daybreak had arrived, and the sun was now rising. Hopefully most of Berk was asleep so I could go out on my one-man search party for the elusive Night Fury.

I looked around the living area in my house and saw it was empty. Instead of going out the front door, I snuck out the back, intending on taking a roundabout path to where I thought the Night Fury might be. I had three things with me: a knife, a pencil and my handy-dandy notebook. The notebook was a small thing, just large enough to jot down designs (like the initial concept I had for Mangler) and rudimentary maps. The knife was for defense and/or to cut the Night Fury's heart out. I had trekked around that particular area so many times I could run through it with my eyes closed. I knew where every single tree, rock and cliff was. Next stop: north side of Berk. Objective: cut out Night Fury's heart. Reward: unimaginable.

The sun was high enough in the sky to see without any trouble. The forest I was walking in was another story. Every summer morning until just short of midday, fog was always rolling around. But it was no matter. My notebook and my experience told me exactly where everything was, well, except for the dragon. I looked all around where I was standing. I couldn't see Berk from here. That would have given me an excellent idea of where the dragon was. But I could only guess. The trees were too dense to see anything far from here, and the fog was especially soupy this morning. I put an "X" on my map where I was standing. Counting, I had visited eighteen sites that the dragon might have ended up at. I was oh-for-eighteen thus far.

I put the pencil into the crease of my notebook and clapped it shut, sending a sharp pop reverberating through the forest. I heard a bird take off, probably startled by the noise. "Great," I mumbled to myself. "Just great, Hiccup. Some people lose a knife or a mug. Oh no, not me! I had to go and lose an entire _dragon_!? Why do the gods hate me so much?" A leafy branch was in my way. Out of sheer frustration, I shoved it away. It came right back and smacked me in the face. "OW!" I glared at that branch, telling it with my expression that it didn't stay out of my way. It didn't respond. Stupid branch. I ducked underneath it and continued on.

The terrain was getting a little more hilly, so I figured I was close to the mountain. Whipping out my notebook again, I looked at it, thinking. I had traced a path I thought the Night Fury must have taken when it fell. The only problem was I wasn't sure where I was in relation to that path. I looked around where I was. Somewhere to my left was Berk. I couldn't make out the ravaged watchtower from here. To my right was more forest. I walked out to my left, looking at the sea. Maybe the dragon fell into the ocean? If it had, there was no telling now where it might be. It could have drowned, it could have been moved somewhere by the current. Heck, it could have just as easily snapped the rope and flown off. I looked around in the small bay for a couple of minutes, trying to discern any large black shape that might have been floating around. Nothing. If the dragon was there, it would have been hidden by the fog anyway. I sighed and turned back, heading the other direction, deeper into the forest.

I passed the clearing I had stopped at and faced the mountain. Well, to my left was nothing. What about to the right? I turned and headed away from Berk.

Meandering through the trees, I couldn't find anything. No sign, no nothing. I stopped and placed another "X" where I thought I was standing. "Rrrrrrrgh!" I groaned, scribbling all over the map page of my notebook. I placed the pencil back into the crease and clapped the notebook shut again. "Is it even here?" I wondered aloud. I found a small clearing and turned right, away from the mountain.

I had carved out a small path to walk on over the years wandering around here and followed it. I was busy making sure I didn't collide with tree branches that were head-high, so I was looking straight ahead. Gosh, there were a lot of them. I stepped into a trench, slipped and fell on my backside. It was one of those landings where you're not prepared, and you land directly on your tailbone. My back telescoped, and I collapsed in a heap on my side. Groaning in pain, I slowly stood, trying to work out the jangling in my lower back and obliques. "Didn't remember this being here," I mumbled. That trench had to be recent. It was only about six inches deep, but it was wide enough to just barely jump across at a full-tilt run. I wondered what could have caused this trench to happen. Looking around, I saw to my left for about twenty yards the trees had been snapped in half. The trunks were still in the ground, but the upper halves were toppled to the ground. Something crash-landed here, because the trench started about ten feet to my left and gouged out a straight-on path for a while. To my right, whole trees were cleaved. This definitely didn't happen a year ago. The felled trees were fresh. Like, within-the-last-week fresh. The wood shards were still sharp, and no bugs were infesting the trees. Maybe the trees were cut down within the last _day_. Maybe last _night_.

I gulped. THE NIGHT FURY! I quietly followed the trench, noticing it got deeper until it came to large rock. The trench abruptly stopped at the rock, and that was that. The rock (well, it was actually more of a boulder) was taller than me, so I peered around it, and jumped right back behind the rock with a sharp gasp.

_The Night Fury was there_.

Nature's most dangerous airborne creature was lying in a small clearing, not moving. My heart was moving so fast, I thought it was making more of a hum than it was actually beating. I peered around the rock again. Still there, still not moving. My eyes were as big as the bowls we use for supper.

I knelt down behind the rock, thinking. _What should I do next?_ My mind was frozen. I caught a Night Fury. Now what was I supposed to do with it? As I sat there, frozen in panicked thought, I realized I would need some kind of trophy. I took a deep breath and groaned in displeasure. It didn't help that I was squeamish. I was somewhat comforted by the fact that the dragon wasn't moving. It was dead. Probably killed by the impact with the ground or boulder.

I found my knife tucked away in my belt and ripped it out with some trouble. I looked down. Belt still intact, pants not cut, leg not bleeding. We were in business. Taking a few deep breaths to steel myself, and then taking a few more, because the first few didn't work, I stood up. Ready.

As I snuck around the rock toward the Night Fury, I realized the bola from Mangler was still wound tight around its midsection, knotted and tangled, holding the dragon's wings in place. The one time I used Mangler for something other than testing, it worked like a dream. A one-hundred-percent success rate.

I approached the dragon, knife at the ready, and it was more incredible than we had made it sound. And Vikings were amazingly good at exaggeration. The Night Fury was jet-black, just like we had predicted. It was a medium-sized dragon with four legs and a long tail. I could see two large wings folded on its back with two smaller hind wings just below and behind the main wings. This monster was built…no, it was _designed_ for speed. For stealth. The label "Nature's Most Dangerous Airborne Creature" fit this dragon perfectly. Wow. If I could just convince someone from Berk to come over here…

"Oh, man. Th-this fixes everything! I really did it! I have brought down this mighty beast!" I planted my right foot onto the dragon's foreleg and pushed in a mock show of victory. I heard a low groan and the dragon tried to move. I immediately jumped back, scrambling behind the boulder again, my heart rate returning to a steady hum. The dragon was _not_ dead after all. I'd have to kill it.

Slowly, I walked over to the dragon's front, where I could see its head. Its eyes were open. The Night Fury had deep, yellow-green eyes, like a cat. Its pupils were slits. Its eyes looked cold and calculating, like you would expect a killing machine to be. Its breaths were slow and steady, sounding like the bellows I used in the armory. But the dragon was breathing with a lot of effort. I thought it might have been…nah, dragons are ruthless killing machines. It stared directly at me, wondering what was going to happen. This Night Fury was going to become like any other dragon that met its match from Berk: dead. I was going to kill it, just like I had told my father earlier this morning.

I focused on the dragon and whispered menacingly to it, "I'm gonna kill you, dragon. I'm gonna cut your heart out and take it to my father. I'm gonna show Berk that I'm a Viking. I'm a Viking!" I held the knife in both of my hands with the blade down. I was gonna plunge it into the dragon's chest and cut its heart out, regardless of whether I was squeamish about blood or not. It was time for me to get over that anyway.

The dragon just stared at me. I closed my eyes and raised my knife above my head, ready to plunge the knife to its hilt in the dragon's chest. I heard the dragon's breaths come louder and more quickly. This thing knew what was coming.

I looked again at the dragon and saw a different expression. It looked like it was pleading me not to kill it. After what it had done to Berk, I wasn't going to grant it a reprieve. In fact, I wanted it to suffer psychologically before I killed it. I wanted to feel it give up. I closed my eyes again and raised onto my tip-toes. I heard the dragon moan softly and put its head down on the ground in defeat.

I stayed on my toes for a few seconds, but my arm wouldn't move. No matter how much I thought about killing this creature who had terrorized our village probably since before I was born, I couldn't do it. I wasn't going to kill this dragon.

I thought about what I had just seen. The dragon looking at me, pleading for its life.

It. Looked. Scared. Of me. Of Hiccup. The most scrawny excuse for a Viking Berk had ever seen and would probably ever see. The dragon just continued breathing, exhaling forcefully every few seconds.

The knife dropped from my hand and landed harmlessly on the ground as I buried my face into my now open hands. "I can't do it," I said to myself. I had tears in my eyes. I turned around and shouted into the forest, "I BROUGHT DOWN A NIGHT FURY, AND NOBODY IS GOING TO BELIEVE ME!" I couldn't kill this dragon, so how was I going to show anyone? Better yet, how in the world was I going to convince the rest of Berk that _I had spared a dragon's life_? I couldn't do it. I'd be shunned for the rest of time.

Dejected, I slowly walked away, picking up my knife as I went. I turned to look at the dragon once again, still immobile, still with its head down. I looked at what I had done to the dragon. I had shot it with the bola. I had caused it to crash right here. "I did this. I tried to kill a dragon for no reason." I felt the frustration welling up in my chest and throat, and it didn't feel good. Mentally, I was kicking myself for being so stupidly mindless. I had been trying so hard to be like everyone else in Berk, and today I finally got my opportunity. But I couldn't take it.

It was crazy. Here I was, looking at a dragon and feeling sorry for what I did to it. Everyone in Berk _knew_ dragons lived to kill. Everyone in Berk _knew_ dragons lived to steal food. And everyone in Berk _knew_ dragons lived to make our lives difficult. But all I knew was that I didn't feel that way now.

I saw the knife I was holding in my left hand and promised myself not to use it ever again on a dragon, regardless of what it did to us. Even if it threatened me with my life. There was no way I was gonna kill a dragon. Ever.

But I could use the knife for something else: letting the Night Fury go. I walked back over to the dragon and looked for any rope that I could cut. There were two cords around the dragon's midsection, so I sawed back and forth, cutting away from the Night Fury until the first rope snapped in two. I cut the second one off and looked at the dragon. It opened its eyes, realizing what I was doing.

I wished I had more common sense, but I'm a Viking. What can I say? After separating the second rope, the Night Fury sprang up and tackled me with one foreleg. All of this happened in less than a second. One moment, I was cutting away at the rope. The next, I was pinned underneath its right foot. My knife ended up about two feet out of my reach. Its claws, long, deadly and sharp, tightened around my chest. The dragon glared directly into my eyes, daring me to try and escape. Daring me to shoot it down again. This was the last mistake I would ever make, letting a dragon free after I had shot it down. I looked into its eyes, quickly searching for a hint of mercy behind those narrow black slits. Nothing. This dragon was pure, unadulterated malice rolled up into one creature. Unlike me. It pulled its mouth back into a snarl and opened wide, ready to launch a fireball from point-blank range directly at my head. I closed my eyes and tensed, ready to have my head blown off, but all I heard was a deafening roar from just above me. I couldn't cover my ears because my arms were pinned along with my chest. The Night Fury bellowed into my face for a few seconds before wheeling around and launching off, never to return.

Dazed and deaf for the time being, I slowly sat up and tried to relearn how to breathe, watching the dragon crash into a tree and a rock within a second. The bola had probably cramped its wings. It roared in anger as it flew off. I haltingly grabbed my knife, which was slightly behind me and to my left and stood up. I took three steps toward Berk like I was drunk and passed out cold from fear.

* * *

In our great hall, which boasted a roaring fire pit sunk into the floor, the rest of Berk was gathered. As usual, the chieftain of our pleasant little tribe of Vikings was heading the meeting.

"This is it!" my father yelled to the hall. "This is the last time those dragons will raid Berk! Let's do one last search for the nest, before the ice sets in. No matter how this war ends, it will end TODAY!" To accent his point, he stabbed his knife into the table in front of him. It only stopped because the hilt wasn't sharp. The rest of the hall shouted in agreement. One thing was for certain about my father: he could get other Vikings riled like nobody's business.

"Now, who's with me!?" he shouted. Nobody stepped forward. They all knew what it meant.

"Those ships never come back," another Viking stated. He was right. In sixteen years, I had only seen a few ships come back. Out of who knows how many. Several. Somehow, every year, we think that we can find the dragons' nest. Last year, it was just a bit of bad luck, but this year, oh, this year was going to be the year. Happens every fall. Somehow, my father was going to have to pull some really good stunt to get anyone to join him.

"We're Vikings, it's an occupational hazard," my father replied. There were a few grumbles, but nobody took charge. "Look, if we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will move! They'll find another home!" Still, nobody seemed bent on raiding a dragon's nest. It was just too dangerous. "All right," he mused. "Anyone who stays…will look after Hiccup."

All the other Vikings in the hall immediately jumped forward, wondering when they would set sail, dragon blood on their minds. "That's more like it," he said underneath the din.

After quieting everyone down, he concluded, "We'll leave at dawn tomorrow." The rest of the hall shouted in consent.

It was semi-comforting to know my awkwardness in Berk had an upside: convincing people to do things they would never do in their wildest dreams.

As the great hall cleared, my father sat down next to Gobber at one of the long bench tables we had in the back half of the hall. "Well, this looks like a rousing success for another long trip," Gobber started. "I'll pack extra undies."

"No, I need you to stay in Berk and train new recruits," my father said.

"Oh, great. Hiccup gets lots of quiet time to himself in the armory, nobody to bother him. Molten iron, razor-sharp swords, and all the supplies for deadly weapons and contraptions you could ever need. What could _possibly_ go wrong?" Gobber asked sarcastically.

"I thought about what you said last night. I'm putting Hiccup in dragon training with the other teenagers."

"Oh, good," Gobber replied. "Are you actually being serious about this now?"

"Gobber, don't make me change my mind."

Gobber cut to the chase immediately. "You made the right choice, Stoick. Even if he doesn't become a great fighter, he'll at least be able to help us defend Berk." My father nodded, got up and left. Gobber soon followed.

* * *

I got back to the armory in the early afternoon. Gobber was there, peacefully working away. "You're _late_," he said. Gobber was normally easygoing when I was working, usually because this was the only place on Berk where I half-belonged. But he didn't like it when I wasn't there to help him in the mornings. "Did you really go search for the 'Night Fury' you brought down this morning?" He slurred the words "Night Fury."

"Yessir," I said, trying not to offend him. "I found the snare, but the dragon was gone. Must've broken free or something." This was a big, fat lie, but if I told the truth, I'd be ridiculed almost to suicide.

"Well, I hope you learned a lesson from all of what went on this morning. Here are today's orders," he said, shoving a sheet of parchment into my face. I scanned it for the saddle that I was working on. Not there.

"Did Hoark ask about his saddle?" I asked, mentioning the angry villager.

"No, probably tending to his house. You can finish it, but I'm not sure if his horse is still here."

I shrugged. I figured I'd finish it anyway, but I wouldn't deliver it to him. I knew that if Jamu had been horse-napped, Hoark would find a way to misconstrue that as an insult to him. But if he came looking for the saddle and it was unfinished, he'd scream his head off at me, demanding to know why the saddle wasn't finished.

I looked around the armory and found the saddle I was working on. It was almost finished. I just needed to sew the leather pieces together. That would take thirty minutes if I was slow. I found a needle and coarse thread and went to work, holding the saddle in my lap as I went. My work today was peacefully quiet, but Gobber was muttering while hammering away at something in the background.

"Hiccup, I'll need your help with a battle axe today," Gobber told me between hammer strikes.

Without thinking, I threw a chunk of scrap iron onto the coals and started with the bellows. Then I stopped after a step and a half, my right foot still in the air. "Why do we need a battle axe now?" I asked.

"For next time, and if you ask a question like that again,…" Gobber trailed off. I figured he wasn't in the best of moods because of last night and my supposed truancy this morning. I got the message pretty quickly. I shrank back into a corner and waited for him to turn back to his work.

After five minutes, the iron was hot enough, so I placed it into a stone beaker and put it into the heat chamber below the coals.

"Ready," I said, wiping sweat off my brow.

"Okay, lemme get the mold." Gobber lurched over to the mold, kept in a back corner with parchment labeling what type of cast-iron piece it would make. We had several molds for different purposes, all sitting in the back corner. All of the molds were rocks cut in two and hinged for opening. Inside was the shape of the part that we could make with the iron.

"RRRRRRRRGH!" he grunted, hefting the mold into the vise nearby. I tightened the vise to make sure the mold wouldn't slip off while we were using it.

Gobber opened the door underneath the coals and reached in with his prosthetic forceps and grabbed the stone beaker. He poured the molten iron into the hole at the top of the mold, where we waited for it to cool before opening the mold and dousing the iron in water.

"Hiccup, are you interested in dragon training?" Gobber asked out of the blue.

"Uh, possibly," I said. I didn't want to offend him, but I wasn't really interested in killing a dragon, especially after I had made that promise to myself this morning.

"Well, you can't just keep building contraptions to shoot dragons down. It takes too much time and supplies."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I'm saying you can learn how to throw a snare, and you wouldn't have to shoot it."

"Oh, yeah. Like I can actually _do_ that. You said last night that I couldn't even throw one."

"Well, it beats having to move your contraption around. By the way, what happened to that thing?"

"A Monstrous Nightmare happened to it last night," I said, suddenly not liking where this conversation was going.

"What do you mean, the dragon _happened_ to it?"

"I mean the dragon stomped on it."

"Ah. So _that's_ how you managed to let Berk's livestock get taken."

"Sure. Whatever you say. I wasn't trying to ruin the night for everyone. I just wanted to bring down a dragon, just like everyone else."

"Well, you can learn to do that with dragon training. But you can't just keep building those…things."

"Okay?" I asked, waiting.

"Look, Hiccup. There's the Viking way to do something and then there's _your_ way. And your way makes grown men…uncomfortable," Gobber said, dancing around the word "uncomfortable."

I stared at him blankly, processing his badvice. "Speaking of 'uncomfortable,' I'd like a new conversation please."

"All right. How's it going with the ladies?" Gobber asked like he was a womanizer.

"Geez, way to get the mood back," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, come on. I've seen the way you look at Astrid."

It was true. I wished Astrid respected me more, because I thought she was amazing. But it wasn't a two-way exchange between us. "Oh, puh-_leeze_! Astrid wouldn't come near me if she was on fire and I had the only bucket of water around."

"Maybe not," Gobber started. "Not yet. But I think she likes you. Just doesn't realize it."

I had to stifle a laugh. Turned it into a fake cough. "Yeah, the next time she shows up here, watch how she looks at me."

As if on cue, a tomboyish girl's voice rang loud and clear into the armory. "Hello? Uh, Gobber. I need this axe sharpened." Astrid completely ignored me. Looked at Gobber the entire time.

Both of us turned simultaneously as I wrenched my face back to somewhat normal from the look of flabbergasted surprise I was wearing. After a long silence, Gobber invited Astrid into the armory and turned to face both of us. "So…yeah…I'm…uh…just gonna…go and, uh,…check on some…things," he stuttered. As quickly as his peg leg would carry him, he rushed out of the armory, leaving me and Astrid standing there, not quite looking at each other. We stood around for a little bit.

"So, uh, you need a new axe?" I asked after an awkward silence, completely forgetting she had only wanted the axe she was carrying with her oh-so-conspicuously sharpened.

"Hiccup, I only need this sharpened. Why can't you listen?" she said, staring right through me. Astrid hadn't even been here a minute and this exchange was already going bad. "Here," she said, dropping the axe into my arms. I nearly collapsed under its weight and my surprise. "Be careful with it. It's my mother's."

"Okay. Uh, one razor-sharp battle axe, coming right up," I said.

I waddled over to the sharpening wheel and placed the axe in the rack. I got the stone going with the foot pedal I had designed last year and picked the axe back up. The sharpening stone would run at a good clip for about ten minutes because I designed the center of the wheel with ball bearings and centered the shaft to minimize friction. Getting the sharpening stone back up to speed if it slowed down was no problem either. I started whetting the blade, getting into a rhythm, waiting for the noise to die down so that I could move to another portion of the blade. The axe was a single blade, which halved the work time for sharpening.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Astrid approach the furnace and bellows. She caught my attention like she always did. I watched her as she blew the bellows into the furnace. Generally, people weren't allowed in the armory unless they're named Gobber or Hiccup. But Astrid had been here many a time, so we weren't too concerned that she'd break anything. But, man. Watching her flex on the bellows was just a show. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

But my ears did it for me. I heard a sharp _chink_ and felt a jarring vibration in my hands. Crud. I looked down, knowing what I would see, but hoping it wouldn't be there. A shard of the axe had been taken out of the blade because I left it too long on that spot. Right in the middle of the blade, too. Couldn't have found a worse possible spot. But I couldn't show her the blade that I had just broken. I had to think of a diversion, and quick. Luckily for me, Astrid had already unintentionally done that.

"Hiccup, what's in here?" she asked. I knew where she was without looking. My little area, full of designs for contraptions like Mangler. Full of plans I wanted to keep secret because the other Vikings would burn them if they found out. Now I had two problems: the axe and keeping her away from my collection of designs. I figured the axe was more important.

"Uh, that's private. Stuff that's upper-level research and development. Can't let you in there," I said quickly, while placing the broken axe into a vise and wrenching the handle out. I had to get a new single blade on quickly. But before I could find it, I heard the leather hang brush back, letting Astrid have a full view of the mess of designs, plans and notes I had collected for the last few years.

"Looks like chicken scratches," she observed. "You're, uh, certainly putting your time to good use," she said sarcastically.

"Yeah," I said back as I found the blade I wanted. I removed the broken blade from the vise and placed the new one in, wrenching the original handle into the blade. I wasn't thinking about her revealing my ideas to the rest of Berk. I was only thinking that if she caught me breaking her axe, then she'd break me too. I glanced to figure out where she was as I removed the axe from the vise and made my way back over to the sharpening stone. But Astrid was a good fifteen feet away from me, so I didn't have to worry. I got the sharpening stone back up to speed and went to town again. This blade was already sharp because we had made it just a few days ago, but no one had claimed the axe. So it was just sitting in the armory collecting dust. I figured Astrid would put it to better use than decoration.

"Mangler," she said, apparently reading one of my plans. "What is it?"

"Uh," I said over the din of the sharpening wheel at work. "It's a launch for snares. You don't have to throw one with Mangler."

"Oh. Okay," she said. She had that tone of voice that told me she didn't care. "Can't wait for tomorrow," Astrid said excitedly, changing the subject. She was ambling my way.

"What happens tomorrow?"

"Ya didn't hear?" she asked. I shrugged and looked at her blankly. "All the men are leaving to find the dragons' nest."

"Okay, and you're excited because you like to…wave goodbye?" I guessed. I had no idea where she was going with this.

"No, stupid. We're gonna get the chance to show everyone what we can do."

"What do you mean?"

"Dragon training. We start tomorrow morning."

I wondered who was going to be teaching. All the men were going to be away, so who was left? I wasn't sure any of the women knew how to fight dragons. I didn't see any of them fighting last night, just trying to round the livestock up. "Oh," I said. "Well, have a good time. Don't get, you know, fried or anything like that."

Astrid shrugged and said, "Yeah, well, it's fun only if you get a scar out of it."

"Yeah, no kidding, right?" I replied. "Pain. _Love_ it." I shuddered on the inside.

"Don't try to weasel your way out of this one, Hiccup. You're coming tomorrow too."

My stomach dropped. I felt the color drain out of my lips. Me? Learning how to kill dragons? Not good. "Uh, yeah, okay. Did my dad put me into this?" She nodded. "Uh, okay," I mumbled, completely out of words. I was planning on playing ignorant, but I heard my father last night talking to Gobber about this exact topic.

Astrid must have caught onto my sudden lack of words and quickly changed the subject. "How's the axe coming?" she asked. Inside, I was thanking her for not asking about the Night Fury.

"Good," I lied. "Almost done." She came over, and I offered her the axe.

Astrid waited for a beat and asked, "So, Hiccup. I've gotta know. Did you _really_ shoot down a Night Fury?"

I had my hands outstretched with an axe in them, hoping Astrid would take it away from me and walk off. But she _had_ to let me suffer. She _had_ to ask about the Night Fury when I thought she wouldn't. "Uh," I started, racing through different ideas. "Well, I think I did." My arms had gotten tired, so I let the axe fall down to my side. Astrid didn't notice.

"What do you mean, _you think you did_?"

"I, uh, found the snare, but no dragon. The rope was snapped, so it must've flown off."

"Did you even see it?"

"What? The snare?"

"No, stupid. The _dragon_."

"Oh. Nope," I said.

Astrid waited for an awkward silence, then asked, "Can I have my axe back?"

"Oh-yeah-here," I said, way too quickly.

Astrid took the axe from my hands and hefted it a few times. "This feels different. You do something else to my axe?" she asked daringly.

"Oh, uh, kinda," I lied again. "I balanced it, pured the handle, finessed it, you know, that kind of stuff. We're a full-service outfit here."

She paused. I was hoping she'd get out of here before I blurted out that her axe was broken. "Oh. Well, thanks," she said quietly. I wasn't sure if she had caught onto it, but she didn't seem to mind. Yet.

"Oh, uh, sure. Anytime," I said. She walked out without another word, never even glancing at me. I heaved a sigh of relief.

Some of the local teenagers met up with her outside of the armory, chatting excitedly about dragon training tomorrow. I heard things like, "Man, I hope I get some serious scars across my face, you know, like my right cheek or around my eye!" or "I hope I get a burn mark on my arm so I can finally fit in!" I touched my right arm to make sure it wasn't burned. This was not going to be good. At all. No chance for me to be "conveniently absent" tomorrow morning because there would be nobody else around. I'd be too easy to find. I'd have to force myself to show up, hope that I could just barely get by without being noticed and then return to the armory. For once in my life, I wanted to be ignored.

The more I thought about it, though, the more it made sense. Lots of people would be gone from the village. Nobody to bother us with duties. For me, less responsibility at the armory. My father probably had the idea that we would hone our skills at fighting and killing dragons, and then they'd come back to us ready to fight. Sarcastically, I wondered if that was even necessary. I mean, they'd just take out the dragons' nest before we could use those skills, right?

* * *

I went home early that night preoccupied about tomorrow. About my father leaving me. About having to learn to fight dragons. I walked in the doorway while he was sitting at his usual spot, facing away from the door, eating his supper. I closed the door quietly and tried to sneak upstairs so he wouldn't notice me. But I stepped on the fifth step. The one that creaks. Most of the time I made sure to skip it because there have been times when it makes more of an explosive report than a creak. But tonight, I was too preoccupied with what I had been through to realize I had stepped there.

He noticed the sound and turned to face me. "Hiccup, I need to speak with you."

"Dad! Uh, yeah, I need to talk to you too."

We stared at each other for a moment. Took the same deep breath. And said what was on our minds at exactly the same time. I tried to tell him, "I don't think I wanna fight dragons."

"What?" we asked simultaneously.

"You go first," my father said.

Out of respect for my father, I said, "No, you go first."

"All right, then. You get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

My stomach dropped for the billionth time today. "Oh, man! I shoulda gone first! Because, you know, we seem to have this kind of surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings. But do we have enough bread-making Vikings? Or small-home-repair Vikings?" I was trying my hardest to wriggle out of this argument and go upstairs. If nothing else, I could play ignorant when someone came to fetch me for dragon training tomorrow.

Without paying attention to a word I had told him, he reached to the wall near me and grabbed an axe. "You'll need this," he said, dropping it into my arms. I grunted, barely catching the axe.

"I, uh, don't think I can fight dragons."

He laughed a little. "Yes you do! You've wanted to do this since you were little! Well, little-_er_."

Inside, I rolled my eyes at his badvice. "Dad, rephrase: I _can't_ fight dragons."

"But you _will_ fight dragons. It's everybody's dream here to be able to kill a dragon."

"Can you not hear me? I'm very extra-sure that I won't kill a dragon." I almost blabbed about the Night Fury, but stopped myself. It would be a waste of time because he wouldn't believe me anyway.

"Hiccup. It's time for you to become a real Viking." He started correcting my posture, straightening my back up and placing the axe "correctly" in my hands. "That means you walk like us, you talk like us and you _think_ like us." _Which is not at all_, I mused in my head. "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us. No more…this," he said, motioning to my general area.

"You just gestured to all of me!"

"Deal?"

"This conversation seems very one-sided," I observed.

"_Deal?_"

I sighed. "Deal."

"Good. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. Study hard, fight harder. I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here. Maybe…" I watched as he went off to bed. I put the axe back onto its hook in the wall next to me and clambered off to my bed.

I got into bed, but hardly slept that night.


	3. Chapter 3

My father and his crew, which consisted of about ninety percent of the men on Berk, left early in the morning. I got to the pier just in time to see the three ships launch, heading toward the horizon in the north.

I met the other teenagers in front of the armory the next morning. It was the only place I could guess at where people would be. All I knew was that we were going to start dragon training today. No idea who would teach or where we would be taught. Or how long it would take.

I saw Astrid and Fishlegs there. I also saw Snotlout and the lanky twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were always at each other's throats. They were fraternal twins, Ruffnut the girl and Tuffnut the boy. They were argumentative, belligerent and were always trying to one-up each other in every single little aspect of life.

Six people in total. Tuffnut was the first one to see me.

"Aw, who invited _him?_" he asked pointedly.

Snotlout giggled and said, "Hey, I don't think we have to train. Just hide behind Hiccup, since he's already a master 'dragon slayer.'" This made Ruff and Tuff chuckle.

"Ah, looks like everyone's here." The other five teenagers wheeled around to find Gobber standing right behind them, equipped with his prosthetic hook. "We're headed that way, lads. And lasses." He motioned to his right. We followed him as he started walking.

We entered the arena I had only spectated at before. I had only seen this place from the outside. Now, we were in the pit. To do battle. I was here once in a great while, and only when someone was conducting their rite of passage into Vikinghood.

Seeing this place from inside was really intimidating. The pit was about fifteen feet deep and a hundred feet in diameter. There was a cast-iron cage that protected the top of the arena like a dome. I didn't help make those chains, so Gobber or the blacksmith before him must have done that. Above the arena were long stone shelves that stretched around the pit, acting as seats. We were standing in a horizontal line as Gobber clunked around us. I was on the far right, next to Fishlegs. Astrid was next to him, in the middle, then Snotlout and the twins, Ruff and Tuff.

Gobber must have picked up on my apprehension. For me, it was never easy to hide being nervous. "Think about it this way, Hiccup," he said, pulling me into a somewhat friendly headlock. "You're small and don't have much meat on your bones. The dragons will see you as sickly or insane and go after the more Viking-like teenagers." He let me go and walked to face all of us. All I knew was his badvice didn't help me overcome being nervous. If anything, Gobber had made it worse.

I really didn't want to be here. I didn't care how docile or tame any of the dragons we had penned up were. I had survived a direct encounter with a wild and angry Night Fury. I knew exactly how powerful these creatures were.

"Welcome to dragon training!" Gobber shouted as he turned to face us from about fifteen feet away. "Here you will learn to fight dragons. Behind these doors are different dragons. Not a single one is less dangerous than any of the others. The teenager who does best in training will have the honor of _killing_ his or her first dragon." He made a twisting motion with his prosthetic hook, gutting an imaginary dragon.

"Hey, since Hiccup has already killed a 'Night Fury,' does that disqualify him from training?" Snotlout asked. He looked around, seeing the other teenagers besides Astrid chuckling. "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings? Who do I talk to about that?"

Gobber just looked at him blankly. "Are you finished?" he asked. Snotlout shut his mouth, because he didn't want to offend someone with a sharp hook that could eviscerate a dragon. He motioned to each door as he spoke about the dragons. "We have here some of the most dangerous species of dragons." He pointed at the door to our left. "The Monstrous Nightmare is on your left."

I heard Fishlegs buying into Gobber's spiel. "Strength: plus-6," he said to me.

Gobber pointed to another door. "The Deadly Nadder."

"Poisonous tail spines, for fast-acting paralysis."

"The Terrible Terror."

"Venom: plus-14!" Fishlegs was really getting into gear with his RPG knowledge. His eyes were starting to widen.

"The Hideous Zippleback."

"Armor: plus-6! Stealth: times-2!"

"WILL YOU STOP THAT!?" Gobber shouted at Fishlegs. Fishlegs hunkered down, not knowing his excitement was percolating all the way to Gobber. "And, finally, the Gronckle." Gobber rolled the r, making the word sound like "Grrrronckle."

"_Jaw strength: 8_," Fishlegs whispered to me out of the corner of his mouth.

Tuffnut noticed that Gobber had his hand on the lever that controlled the long wooden bole that locked door and shouted, "Wait, aren't you going to give us some pointers first!?"

Gobber laughed and said, "Nah. I believe in learning on the job." With that he slammed the lever down, and the wooden bole rose up. The dragon must have heard the lock disengaging, because the door started shaking from several impacts. As soon as the lock was released, the doors flew open, slamming against the arena walls. A large earth-colored dragon came flying out with wings that looked more fitting for a bumblebee or hummingbird.

Gronckles have four sections to their bodies. The second section contains the diminutive wings, and I still have no idea how they can fly with them. When they're asleep, it's unbelievably difficult to tell which side is the head and which side is the rear. One important thing we've all found out is the Gronckle's ammunition is limited by the number of rocks it can swallow. It spits them back out as fireballs. Generally, the limit is six, although Gobber claims to have seen one with a limit of forty rocks. Needless to say, nobody believes him.

The dragon was so excited to be out of its pen it sped all the way across the arena and crashed headlong into the opposite end. That's another thing about Gronckles. They're very one-track minded creatures.

"Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need!?" Gobber shouted.

"A doctor!?" I shouted back.

"Plus-5 speed?" Fishlegs asked.

"A shield!" Astrid shouted.

"Right, Astrid! A shield! When you can only choose one between a sword and a shield, choose the shield! A sword will not stop an incoming fireball."

I found a shield lying on the ground, figuring Gobber had placed it strategically for us. As I started to pick up the shield, I saw the Gronckle home in on a small pile of rocks. It scooped them up into its massive jaws and swallowed. Ammunition.

Gobber ran over to me, because I had a small hatchet in one hand and was trying to get a shield on my other arm with half a hand. It wasn't working, so Gobber scooped it up, thrust it on my arm and shoved me toward the middle of the arena. "How many shots does a Gronckle have?" he shouted to the arena.

"Eight?" Astrid said.

"No! Six!" Fishlegs shouted, raising his shield triumphantly into the air. Like a beacon.

"Correct! That's one for each of you!" Gobber shouted. I shuddered, wondering what must have happened to Gobber to make his mind so twisted like that.

I saw the twins fighting over a shield, screaming and cursing at each other.

"Go get that one!" Tuffnut shouted to his sister. "It has a flower on it! Girls like flowers!"

Ruffnut wrenched the shield from Tuffnut's hands. Instead of claiming it for her own, she smacked her brother on top of his head with the shield. "Oops," she said sardonically. "Now it has blood on it. I like blood much better than flowers."

Tuffnut grabbed the shield back and the twins started at square one again. The Gronckle decided to end the squabble once and for all. It blasted a fireball at the shield, which shattered in the twins' hands. The twins collapsed to the ground as the Gronckle sped over them, looking for someone more enticing.

"Ruffnut! Tuffnut! You're out!" Gobber shouted from the other side of the arena. "This is real life here! If you get blasted, you're dead!"

"Great, thanks for reminding me!" Snotlout shouted as he ran away from the dragon.

The Gronckle saw Fishlegs's shield and blasted it. This dragon was either crazy smart or crazy stupid by not aiming for Fishlegs. The shield on Fishlegs's arm shattered.

"Fishlegs, you're out." Gobber said. Fishlegs tore off, faster than I had ever seen him run. Toward the exit from the arena. Glad to be done with everything here.

The Gronckle settled itself near the middle of the arena, circling around every now and then, making sure we were aware it was ready to kill us.

"Now what's one thing that a dragon can't stand?" Gobber shouted to the remaining three of us.

"Loud noises?" Astrid said.

"Yes! Noise! Loud, sharp noises. Make lots of it!" Gobber shouted back.

Astrid took the cue first and pounded the metal center of her shield with the axe she was carrying. The same axe I "sharpened" yesterday. Soon, the other two of us followed. I was standing face-to-face with the dragon and saw its eyes lose focus. We began circling the dragon so that I was on its left-hand side by the time it landed. Our strategy was to not only daze it but confuse it as well. Maybe we figured it wouldn't know who to shoot if we kept this up.

"Hey! Looks like it's working!" Snotlout shouted. Immediately, he stopped pounding his shield. Astrid and I followed his lead, not realizing the dragon would recover. Within seconds, the Gronckle got its senses back and blasted a fireball towards Astrid. She jumped out of the way, the fireball just missing her.

Snotlout was standing next to Astrid, trying to hit on her, like he usually does. From across the arena, I heard him trying to woo Astrid into exercising with him. "…Looks like you work out! I just moved back into my parents' place and put some AUGH!" A fireball hit Snotlout dead on the shield, which he was loosely holding in front of his chest.

"Snotlout, you're done!" Gobber shouted.

I had eased my way over to Astrid while Snotlout was distracting the dragon. "So looks like it's just you and me, huh?" I asked.

"Nope, just you!" she said.

I had completely forgotten about the dragon until it blasted a fireball at my shield. Astrid rolled out of the way of the Gronckle. Luckily, the shield didn't shatter, because the angle was more of a glancing blow. The shield popped off my arm and went rolling clear to the other side of the arena. I went to chase it, because I heard the steady hum of the Gronckle's wings right behind me. I was thinking about how many shots the dragon had fired so far. There was one at Fishlegs, one at the twins, one that missed, one at Snotlout and one at me. Five. My shield rolled behind some wooden lattices as I realized the dragon had one shot left. A finishing blow. For me.

Gobber confirmed my suspicions when he shouted to the arena, "One shot left!"

I had just seen my shield behind some wooden scaffolding when the dragon crashed into the wall six inches away from my shoulder. "HICCUP!" Gobber shouted. The dragon just bounced off the wall and glared at me before opening its mouth to fire the final shot. I saw its throat light up with fire when a hook grabbed the Gronckle's mouth and pulled it to the side. The fireball slammed harmlessly into the wall a foot from my head, raining dark grey rock and dust all over my left side. So much for Gobber's badvice about the dragon ignoring me.

"And that's six," Gobber said, wrestling with the Gronckle. "Ah, give it a rest, you overgrown sausage!" he said to the dragon as he forced it back into its pen. He raised the lever, and the gate crashed back down, sealing the dragon inside. I was too shaken to move.

"All of you, get back in here!" Gobber shouted. The other four teenagers came back to join me and Astrid. All of us had burn marks or open cuts somewhere. My entire left side was covered with charred rock. This was not the plan I had for the first day of dragon training. "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." None of us looked excited. Ruff and Tuff exchanged glances and Fishlegs shuddered, thinking the Gronckle we had seen today was more than enough excitement for us.

"Great, I can hardly wait," Snotlout mused sarcastically.

"_That's_ the spirit!" Gobber said. "All right, same time tomorrow, in front of the armory. Study and recover tonight. But remember. A dragon will always," Gobber said, beginning to lean in close to me, "_always_…go for the kill." Gobber was mere inches from my face, glaring at me, telling me with his expression that I had better pay close attention next time. Slowly, the other teens and Gobber broke off, trudging back to the village, leaving me at the wall. I couldn't move. Something just felt…amiss. It felt wrong. I thought about what Gobber said just a few seconds ago. Looked at the scorch mark on the wall right behind my head from the Gronckle. I didn't know why I felt this way, but something was telling me Gobber was wrong.

* * *

I got back home and washed up, trying to get the cinders off the left side of my face, where that last fireball had just barely missed me. After washing, I grabbed a pencil, my notebook and a knife. I was going to retrieve that bola and relax in one of my favorite secluded areas. I knew of a cove near where I had found the Night Fury yesterday. I wanted to go there and lie down to relax. I had nothing pressing me in the armory, and I was too tired to do anything else after that merry little encounter with the Gronckle.

As I ambled my way toward the cove, I thought about what I wanted to do besides relax. Most of the time, I sketched different areas of the cove in my notebook. Last time, I got in there and walked across to the other side and sketched the entrance of the cove. I was trying to imagine it if I were trapped there. It definitely felt more intimidating thinking about the cove as a prison rather than a place to relax.

I walked over to the spot where the Night Fury was yesterday, where I tried to kill it. Where it deafened me. The bola was still there, so I wrote a quick note to pick it up on my way back. But I didn't move. Looking at the bola, I remembered every detail I could from the encounter with the Night Fury. I thought about killing it, realized I couldn't, cut the ropes, and the dragon roared at me before taking off. _A dragon will always go for the kill_. I picked up the bola and asked the air in front of me, "So why didn't you?" There was something terribly wrong about Gobber's badvice. Or was it simply misinformation? Oh, well. I shrugged and put the bola down. The reason for the dragon sparing my life was a complete mystery to me, and I guessed it was going to stay that way forever. It had probably flown off after getting its bearings back. I pushed the question to the back of my mind for now and made my way to the cove.

I continued walking to a small gap in two massive boulders. This was the entrance to the cove. It was a naturally confined area about thirty feet deep with a river bisecting it. There was a lake at the far corner that was fed from the river. I made it a habit of fishing here when I felt like cooking my own meals. The layout was generally circular, and it was pretty easy to get down to the bottom of the cove using a narrow series of ridges as a walkway. The lowest level was easily a few hundred feet across, so there was plenty of room to stretch out and do nothing. There was only one shelf that was maybe four feet tall to negotiate. Easy to get in, easy to get out. Out of the way, so no one could find me. I had taken several different paths to the entrance of the cove so that a clearly defined trail wouldn't be obvious. I had kept this cove my little secret and wanted it to stay that way.

I crawled through the entrance and stood up. Brushed off my right knee. Looking down, I saw a peculiar black stone. I had never seen this type of stone here before. It just looked…out of place. Somehow, I knew I had seen it before, but I couldn't remember where. Or when. I picked it up. Smooth, flat, almost no thickness. It bent easily.

It was a scale. A reptilian scale. I moved my gaze in front of me and saw two more scales, just like the first. I took two steps forward and a black blur shot in front of me. I ducked for cover, scared for my life.

The Night Fury. It grunted as it was trying to claw its way out of the cove, trying to scale the thirty-foot walls. It scrabbled on the rock wall before it started to fall backwards, where it whipped around and glided to an abrupt stop, back on the ground. If that dragon saw me again, I'd have bet it would try to kill me.

I snuck up to a rock and hid behind it, watching the dragon discreetly. It tried to take off again. The first few wingbeats were good, but it slowly cantered off to its right. It looked like it was unable to steer. It crashed into the rock wall and collapsed on the ground with a long moan. I kind of felt sorry for the creature, seeing as it couldn't get out of its natural prison.

Here was a Night Fury, for all the world to see, and it couldn't fly. It couldn't get out of the cove. The path down to the bottom of the cove apparently was too narrow for the dragon to negotiate, because I saw claw marks on the rocks where it had tried to climb out.

I whipped out my notebook and turned to a double blank page. Started drawing. The break between the two pages split my drawing of the Night Fury into two parts. Most of the sketch was on the right-hand page, and the left wing took up the other page. I saw two huge wings for flying and two smaller rudder-type wings just behind them, just like yesterday. None of the other dragons I was familiar with had this type of wingspan, especially compared to the body size. I figured the Night Fury was about two-thirds the size of a Monstrous Nightmare, but seeing its wings reminded me of just how built for speed this dragon was. I guessed its wingspan somewhere around fifty feet. I saw four legs on the dragon and one tail fin. Wait. Comparing my sketch, I had complacently drawn in two tail fins. I asked the sketch, "Why don't you just fly away?" Looked at the dragon again, who was still panting on the ground. Apparently it had been trying to get out all day. The Night Fury roared in frustration to nobody in particular. There was only one tail fin on the dragon. On its right side. The other fin was missing.

The dragon couldn't fly away because it couldn't steer. It couldn't hold a steady enough flight to stay airborne. I rubbed out the tail fin on the left side of the dragon and compared the sketch to the real thing. Good enough.

I watched the dragon try again to get out of the cove, now knowing it was pretty much doomed to stay in here. It crashed into the ground again, where it shot a blue fireball about ten feet in front of itself. The fireball scorched the ground and disappeared with a hollow explosion, leaving a large burn mark in front of the dragon, who was roaring in frustration again. I was relieved that I wasn't on the receiving end of the dragon's tantrum.

The Night Fury tried to take off again and caromed into the ground on the other side of the stream. I watched as its attention turned from getting out to something in the stream. It stalked up to the bank and its head shot into the water. Its head pulled back out empty and shook the water off. Probably going for a fish.

I had been sitting on top of the rock for a little bit and had forgotten about my pencil, that is, until it slipped from my hand. I gave a short gasp and tried to grab it before it fell into the water, a good twenty feet below. My hand missed and the pencil slipped off the rock. I watched in horror as the pencil clattered off the faces of the rocks in slow motion, every sound amplified, where it caught the attention of the dragon. The Night Fury watched the pencil drop, bounce and roll with curious interest until it plopped into the water and began floating with the current. It didn't take long before the pencil ended up right in front of the dragon. The Night Fury pawed at the pencil a couple of times before turning its attention elsewhere.

Oh, no. This was bad. The Night Fury was moving its gaze upwards to where the pencil came from. Me. It didn't take long for the dragon to find where I was sitting. I thought about hiding again, but something washed over me and told me not to hide. Even though I was in range of the Night Fury. But the dragon just looked at me. It was a little defensive, but I didn't feel threatened in any way. It felt like the dragon just didn't know what to think.

Soon enough, the Night Fury lost interest again and took off, trying to escape. Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I began the trek back to Berk, remembering to pick up the bola as I walked back. The entire time, I was thinking about why the Night Fury didn't try to kill me. It had two perfect chances two days in a row.

* * *

I got back to the armory and laid the bola down near my little corner. I used it for different ideas in my spare time, like building Mangler. I thought about making a note to try the bola with a circular ring rather than a junction point, but then remembered Mangler was toast. So I just put the bola down and left. I'd find something else to do with it. Probably scrap iron.

The doors to the great hall were slightly open, waiting for us to eat supper there. There were enough villagers around to keep the great hall clean and cook. I picked up a chicken leg that had already been cooked. Recently, too. It was still steaming when I sat down next to the other frazzled teenagers.

"…And that's what happened. I kinda hope this is permanent. It'll keep me reminded of how dangerous these beasts are," Snotlout concluded.

"Who invited you to sit down here?" Ruffnut asked me pointedly. Somehow, this felt reminiscent of earlier today.

"I, uh, dunno. I just kinda figured that if we need to work as a team, we could at least start tolerating each other," I said.

Ruffnut gave a snort. "Hiccup, there is _nothing_ you can do to help anyone. Get lost! Go catch that 'Night Fury' again and show us this time!"

"Uh…" I started. Briefly, I thought about showing them. The Night Fury was almost surely still in the cove. I knew exactly where it was. I looked out the door, seeing if we could go there. Not only had the sun set, a thunderstorm had moved directly over Berk and was dumping water in buckets. No chance tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

"_Well?_" Ruffnut said. "Spit it out! Or have you been lying this entire time?" She was trying to humiliate me in front of everyone else, a hobby she had recently become unbelievably good at.

I sighed and began gnawing on the meat in front of me. "Never mind."

"Geez, I don't wanna be around this twerp. Let's go somewhere else." The other five stood up without hesitation.

But before anyone could start walking, a massive tome crashed down on the table, upending Astrid's drink. "Nice of you to sit together!" Gobber said over the sound of the driving rain.

"Uh, we were, um, almost finished," Ruffnut said.

"Well, sit down again so I only have to explain this once." They all sat down, grumbling. Near me. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to feel relieved or humiliated. "This," Gobber said, motioning to the book, "is the Book of Dragons."

"Ooooooh," Snotlout said, trying to be mock-creepy. "Isn't there a more original title for this?"

"No," I said smugly. "I think it would be too difficult for you to read if it was different." I had a smirk on my face and my arms were crossed. Snotlout just rolled his eyes.

"Everything we know about every dragon we know of," Gobber said.

"Ooh!" Fishlegs brightened in realization. "I've read it, like, seven times! There's this one dragon that shoots boiling water at its enemies, and another…"

"Yeah, that's great," Tuffnut said, making a shut-your-mouth gesture with his hand. "I don't think I need to know that right now."

"You want us to _read_?" Ruffnut asked. "While we're still alive?"

"Why read words about stuff when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout asked in frustration.

"Snotlout, I think you couldn't have been more vague," Astrid pointed out.

"It would help to read it," said Gobber. "Although, you don't have to. For all I know, you just might prefer getting blasted by the next dragon." Gobber paused, listening to something. He picked up on the rain and said, "No attacks tonight. Study up."

Ruffnut slumped a little in her seat. Without saying another word, Gobber strode over to the food and picked out a whole roasted chicken. He sat down at our table. He had his prosthetic mug out, so he was prepared to have his meal. But he turned to us and said, "You need to live and breathe this stuff. There's no way you can become dragon killers without getting rid of your mistakes. So I'm gonna ask each of you, where did you go wrong today?"

Astrid was the first to tell us. "My somersault roll was sloppy. I couldn't get back up fast enough today."

"I thought you did great on that, Astrid," Snotlout said. "Your rolling was just so…Astrid." She shook her head at him. "I think you're being too hard on yourself." It was the first time in my life I had heard Snotlout actually care about something other than himself.

"She's right, Snotlout. You have to be hard on yourself. You can't get better at this if you are lazy." Gobber noticed me and asked everyone else, "Where did Hiccup go wrong today?"

Ruffnut laughed and said, "Uh, he showed up?"

"He didn't get eaten?" Tuffnut said.

"He's _never_ where he should be," Astrid countered in disinterest.

"Thank you, Astrid. Hiccup wasn't where he should have been today," Gobber said. I felt like retorting. I felt my blood boiling, ready to lash out against someone, but thought better of it. I just sighed in irritation, thinking the only proper place for me on Berk was a place called Out Of The Way. I just had no idea where it was located. See, the problem with Out Of The Way was that it changed, depending on what people thought. It also changed depending on the time and where everyone else was at that particular time.

Gobber stopped asking us where we went wrong today, because Snotlout faked a yawn and said, "I think I'm too tired to read or talk about stuff today. See you guys tomorrow." With that, he left, Fishlegs and the twins following him. Gobber tucked into his meal without saying a word. Without making everyone stay and critique their performance in the ring. Eventually he finished and left too.

Astrid was sitting across from me with a sour expression on her face, looking anywhere but at me. She was just finishing her drumstick. I wasn't sure why she didn't finish her meal more quickly and leave with the rest of the crew.

"So I guess it's just you and me, huh?" I said. "D'you wanna…"

"Already read it," she interrupted, pushing the book towards me. She stood up and left.

"All right, then," I said to no one in particular. There were a few Vikings dotted here and there in the great hall. Some of them looked up at what I was doing and then lost interest just as quickly. "Sounds great. I'll just read this here by myself. Nobody to share it with…" I trailed off.

I finished supper and cleared the table of everyone's stuff before sitting down in the candlelight to read. I had never seen this book before, so how was Gobber keeping it a secret until now?

"G'night, Hiccup," someone said as she passed me. She was the last person in the great hall besides me. I mumbled something back without looking up.

I opened the book. The table of contents was first. "Dragon classifications," I read out loud. "Strike class, fear class, tidal class, mystery class." I turned to the first entry in the tidal class. "Thunderdrum. This dragon inhabits dark caves and low tidal areas. When startled, this dragon can produce a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range." The book had a stylistic illustration of a Viking being decapitated by a drum-shaped dragon bellowing. "Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

I flipped randomly to a page in the Strike Class. "Timberjack. This gigantic creature has razor-sharp wings that can slice through entire forests. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

I flipped back to the Tidal Class. "Scauldron. Sprays scalding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

Mystery class. "Changewing. Even newly hatched dragons can spray acid to kill their victims. Extremely dangerous…" I jumped at an explosion, scared out of my wits. I had been so up to speed with this book it was making me edgy. Nothing, though. It was just thunder. Turned back to the book.

I flipped randomly through the book, browsing through some of the dragons and reading the more intense entries. "Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, The Skrill. Boneknapper. Whispering Death." All of the pages had scary-looking illustrations of the dragons, explaining what they could do to their victims.

"Burns its victims, buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns its victims inside-out…" Every page I turned to had the exact same conclusion. "Extremely dangerous, kill on sight."

Except one. It was in the Strike Class.

Night Fury.

No illustration. No text, except at the bottom of the first page. "Speed unknown. Size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Do not engage this dragon. It cannot be killed. Your only hope of survival is to hide and pray that it does not find you."

Slowly, I looked up, finding a large dark shape moving toward me through the great hall. I saw two cold, calculating yellow-green eyes, the two eyes of the Night Fury I had shot down, coming to kill me. I felt my lungs freeze. No place to hide. No prayer to be said. No way to escape. I blinked. The shape disappeared. It was a hallucination. I breathed a sigh of relief that my mind was trying to play a trick on me. I let my heart rate return to quasi-normal before returning my attention to the book.

The fact that the page had no illustration struck me as odd. We had information on every single other dragon in existence, including dragons I had never seen before, except this one. I whipped out my notebook and laid it open on the page about the Night Fury. My crude sketch was staring me in the face, missing tail fin and all. I picked up a spare pencil from the great hall and wrote down the line "The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself" in my notebook. Below it, I put "Always goes for the kill." Somehow, it just didn't feel right. I didn't hide from that Night Fury earlier today. I didn't say a prayer or try to escape. It just looked at me. The dragon didn't threaten me at all.

I just sat there, looking at my drawing. I wasn't moving, but my mind was. I felt a little twang in my gut, like something was amiss. Something just wasn't right. This was my downfall. Because I was an unconventional Viking in Berk, full of conventional people. Like Gobber said, my ways made grown men "uncomfortable." Well, I'd have been willing to bet my father was about to start twitching in his boat, because of something I was about to do.

I was about to ask why. Why was there no picture of the Night Fury? And why was everything that we thought we knew about the Night Fury like the spawn of Hell? And, most of all, why didn't the Night Fury "go for the kill" when it had two perfect chances?

I thought that I might be able to answer those questions after dragon training tomorrow. With a plan for something ridiculously stupid, by Viking standards. My plan involved several things: a knife, a pencil, my notebook, a shield and a decent-sized fish. A cod would probably do the trick.

I walked back home that night, slopping through wet mud, even though the rain had stopped. The plan was to survive dragon training and visit the cove with all of my supplies.


	4. Chapter 4

I got up the next morning and wolfed down breakfast in the great hall. Didn't even taste it. Too preoccupied. Sneaking around back, I checked to see if there were fish at the ready. Plenty. I ambled to the other teenagers in front of the armory, where Gobber was waiting. We headed back to the arena. As we entered we saw a maze of wooden walls about ten feet high, probably trying to teach us about how to hide or sneak around.

"Grab a shield and weapon and hide," Gobber told us. Slowly, we made our ways around the maze when Gobber shouted, "Today is all about attack!" I heard the bole crank upward, but that was it.

From somewhere across the arena came a loud, staccato warble. A Deadly Nadder. Gobber confirmed my fears when he shouted, "Deadly Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter."

Gobber wasn't kidding when he said that. Deadly Nadders are tall dragons, probably comparable in size to a Night Fury, just vertical. They stand on two strong legs, and their wings are about what you would expect for a standard dragon. They remind me more of birds than they do dragons. They're always vocalizing about something, and it usually sounds like a cackle or warble. Their fire is said to be the hottest fire in the dragon world. And just to make it worse, they'll throw poisonous tail spines at anyone. I remembered when Gobber got stuck with a Nadder tail spine a few years ago. It lodged in his right side, and for a week after, he was holding his right arm horizontally, resting it on the swelling welt the spine had produced. The Nadder we had was a bright blue on its back and white on its belly.

I found Gobber standing on the outside of the ring, leaning over one of the chains as he was instructing us. I glanced around, making sure the dragon wasn't near me and turned my attention to Gobber. I said to him, "So, I noticed there wasn't really anything in the Book about how to kill a Night Fury. Is there, like, a Night Fury pamphlet or a sequel to the AUGH!" The Nadder had just found me and blasted off the top of my hatchet with its fire. That's another thing about Nadders: they don't launch fireballs. Their fire is more like a white-hot continuous blast.

"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!" Gobber shouted at me.

"Oh, no," I mumbled. The dragon was headed straight for me with its head turned ever so slightly to its right. It made some kind of cackling noise as it rushed toward me.

A Nadder's eyes are on the sides of its head, kinda like a bird. Standing directly in front of a Nadder is one of the best ways to hide, because it can't see around its large snout.

I tried to run, my legs pulling me in different directions. Eventually, I dove to my left just before the Nadder chomped on the space I was in just a second ago. I ran around a corner and heard a high-pitched grunt followed by a light clopping noise above me. Looked up. The Nadder was staring straight down at me. I dove behind another wall, hoping to lose the dragon for good this time. So much for attacking.

The Nadder raised its tail and several spines emerged from the end section. It whipped around and fired them at Fishlegs, who must have blocked them with his shield. I saw him take off with a bunch of spines protruding from his shield but none from his body. "I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" he shouted at Gobber.

The Nadder cackled a little bit before jumping back down, looking for someone else to maim. The twins rounded a corner at the exact same time as the Nadder, coming face-to-face with the dragon. Gobber noticed them and shouted, "Every dragon has a blind spot! Find it, hide in it and strike!"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut immediately crowded in front of the dragon, moving to keep its snout in front of them. I heard the dragon grunt, trying to figure out exactly where they were. We knew from experience that a dragon wouldn't blast someone with fire unless it could see them directly.

Ruffnut caught a whiff of Tuffnut's hair and nearly gagged. "Ugh, do you ever bathe?"

"If you don't like it, you can find your own blind spot!" her brother countered.

"How about I give you a blind spot!?"

The twins were shouting at each other, totally ignorant of the dragon, who had just caught a glimpse of the two bickering Vikings. It tried to blast them with a stream of fire, but they noticed it just in time and scurried back the way they had come.

"Blind spot? Yes. Deaf spot? Not so much," Gobber said, laughing.

I found Gobber again and asked him, "So, how would one go about sneaking up on a Night Fury?"

"No one's ever done it and lived to tell the tale. NOW GET BACK IN THERE!" he shouted.

"I know, I know, but hypothetically…"

"_Hiccup, shut up!_" Astrid whispered in my direction. She and Snotlout were hunkered down behind a wooden wall. A few walls down, the dragon was stalking us.

Astrid waited for the dragon to turn its attention elsewhere. It did soon enough. Both she and Snotlout somersaulted across the gap to the other wall, trying to buy time. I tried to follow, trying to show everyone I could at least be somewhat competent. I got through the somersault, but couldn't pick the shield up fast enough. It fell back onto the ground, making a loud clanking sound. The dragon noticed and started barreling toward us. I scrambled up and ran back towards Gobber. The Nadder saw Astrid and Snotlout first, so it turned toward them.

Astrid was ready to defend herself when Snotlout hip-bumped her out of the way, saying, "Stand aside, little lady. I'll handle this." He readied his wooden club and threw it at the dragon. Predictably, Snotlout missed, because I heard the club crash into the wall and the dragon cackle at Snotlout. Laughing at him. I couldn't help but smirk for a second.

Snotlout looked befuddled that he could miss a dragon from near-point-blank range. "The sun was in my eyes! What do you want me to do? Block it out?" he said as they ran away from the dragon, who was now shooting fire in their direction. "I could do it, I just don't have time!"

"Snotlout, just shut up!" Astrid shouted.

The Nadder jumped back onto the wall and whirled a few more spines at Snotlout. No hit, but he would probably think twice about throwing a club at that dragon again. The dragon jumped from walltop to walltop, becoming more and more frustrated as time went on. It couldn't catch us, so its movements were becoming quicker and more haphazard. It was trying to follow one of us until it knocked over one wall. The wall spilled into another wall, and a domino effect started, until about half of the makeshift walls had toppled to the ground. Astrid was in the way of one of them and jumped back just in time to avoid the wall. Unfortunately, she collided with me, lodging her axe into my shield. To make it worse, my shield looped itself around my elbow, where it stuck. Even worse, the dragon saw us.

Astrid grunted, trying to pull her axe out of my shield, but it was stuck tight. Tuffnut, the ever-present clown provided commentary on what Astrid was doing. "Oooooh, love on the battlefield!"

"She can do better," Ruffnut said.

Astrid gave up on dislodging her axe, because she started pulling at my shield. I felt my shoulder trying to dislocate before she popped the shield off my arm and grabbed the axe handle in one quick motion. With a lightning-fast half-turn, she swung her new weapon composed of an axe and shield, clobbering the dragon in the side of its face. The shield shattered, and the Nadder stopped in its tracks, giving a bizarre _awk!_ sound. The dragon stumbled away, knocked silly by the blast.

"Well done, Astrid," Gobber said.

Astrid was panting, glaring at me. "Hiccup, IS THIS SOME SORT OF A JOKE TO YOU?" I just lay there, dumbfounded as usual. "Figure out which side you're on and quick, because our parents' war is about to become _our_ war." She wheeled on the spot and strode out in a huff.

Gobber shoved the Nadder back into its pen and told the rest of us, "Same place after lunch tomorrow, everyone!" Nobody had to ask him to repeat that little sentence. He walked out, with the rest of the teens following, me brining up the rear.

* * *

I limped my way back to the great hall and ate lunch. Once again, I didn't even taste it. Sneaking around back, I found a fresh two-foot-long cod and grabbed it. I already had my knife, pencil and notebook on me. Snuck by the armory to nab a shield. I had all of my supplies. I was in business. Quickly, I made my way back to the cove. I knew I had to hurry for two reasons: I was really anxious to see if my plan would work and the fish would start smelling pretty bad soon.

When I got to the cove, I was slightly out of breath. But I soon realized that getting all my gear through the opening was going to be more challenging than I thought. I hadn't figured out that the opening wasn't much bigger than me until today. I hunkered down behind my shield and tossed the fish a couple of feet into the cove, where it landed with a _splat_. I waited, peering around, hoping the Night Fury was still here. Nothing. I peeked around and saw the coast was clear, so I started to walk through the opening with my shield in front of me. I had forgotten about the size of the opening, so the shield lodged itself in between two of the rocks, stopping me abruptly.

"Crud," I said under my breath.

I crawled underneath the shield and tried to pull it from the other side. Nothing. I kicked it. And stubbed a toe. I hopped around, nearly jumping on the fish, cursing my clumsiness.

"Great," I said. Now I had no way to defend myself from a fireball. I thought about leaving the fish here for the dragon to find, but figured what the heck. If I was going to do something stupid, it might as well have been monumentally stupid. It just wouldn't be the Hiccup way if I didn't. I picked up the fish and slowly started down toward the bottom of the cove.

The cove was empty. No trace of the dragon whatsoever. I looked around and saw nothing but a couple of trees on the other side of the stream and a few boulders to my left. Just like normal. To my right was the column of rocks my pencil had bounced down, alerting the Night Fury to my presence yesterday. I looked to my left again and saw the same boulders.

With a black dragon crouched on top. Looking straight at me. Daring me to escape now. I froze on the spot. My feet had taken root and wouldn't obey me no matter how much I wanted them to. Total fear. The dragon slinked down to the ground and stared at me, seemingly expecting something. It was between me and the opening to the cove, so I was trapped.

I held the fish out in front of me at arm's length, as if doing so would keep the dragon far enough away from me to allow an escape. The dragon grunted and looked at the fish in interest. It sniffed at the air, slowly moving toward the fish, ready for an easy meal.

Then it stopped. Glowered at me. I really was going to die. This dragon had a large fish offered and it wouldn't take the meal. Because it saw me as a threat. Maybe it was because of the knife I had in my belt. The same knife that I had showed it two days ago. If I disarmed myself, I hoped it would take the fish and leave me alone. So far this plan was working out exactly how I didn't want it to: easy for the dragon to kill me.

Slowly, I reached down to the knife on my waist and heard a deep, rumbling growl come from the Night Fury. The expression on its face intensified. It tensed, ready to tackle me and blow me apart with a fireball from point blank. I took the knife out of my belt and dropped it on the ground. The dragon kept on glaring at me. I kicked the knife away as the Night Fury watched. The knife ended up on the water's edge, closer to the dragon than me. Not good, especially if I had to defend myself.

Suddenly, the dragon's expression changed. The menacing growl stopped. It sat back on its haunches with that same expectant look. Its eyes had gone from slits to rounded. Although, I saw something more behind its eyes. It seemed to be pleading me for a meal. Like it was hungry. It had two ear flaps on the back of its head, one on either side. Both were raised. Something like a dog's or cat's ears. If they were up or facing forward, the animal didn't feel threatened. But when the ears were plastered back, the animal was angry, ready to attack.

On all fours, the dragon crept up to me with a low, quiet rumble where I had offered the fish again. Its mouth was open, but I saw no teeth.

"You're a toothless dragon? I could have sworn you had…"

Without warning, both sets of gums sprouted sharp conical teeth. The dragon snatched the fish out of my hands, bit it in half and swallowed.

"…Teeth…" My hands were still extended, not realizing the fish that had been in them a millisecond earlier was gone. I quickly pulled my hands back as the dragon licked its lips. It must have wanted more, because it crawled towards me, sniffing the air around me expectantly. I heard a deep rumble come from the dragon.

"Uh, no no no," I started. I was shuffling backwards in hopes of keeping the Night Fury from attacking me. I tripped over a fist-sized rock and ended up on my rear. I couldn't get up, so I backed away on all fours until my back met a boulder. No way around, and the dragon was mere feet away. And getting closer.

"I…I don't have any more!" I whispered as the dragon's face got within inches of my own. Its front legs were planted about even with my knees, so I had zero chance for escape. It stared at me for a couple of seconds.

The dragon's stomach sucked in hard. Once. Twice. A gagging sound came from its throat as it regurgitated half of the fish it had eaten into my lap. The dragon's saliva was quickly soaking through my shirt, leaving a disgusting feeling and smell on my chest and abdomen.

"Yeeurgh…" I muttered. Gross. The Night Fury sat back on its haunches looking at me with that same expectant look. Waiting for something to happen. It exhaled every few seconds, sounding like the bellows in the armory.

I looked at the half-fish in my lap and then back to the dragon. I realized it was waiting for me to do something. It looked at the fish and back to me. Signaling.

The fish was a gift to me. From the Night Fury. The dragon could have eaten the entire fish and kept it. I wished it would have. "Great," I mumbled under my breath. I had to eat this fish, because the dragon had given it to me. Slowly, I raised the fish to my mouth and faked a bite. I chewed the invisible piece of fish and swallowed as naturally as I could, trying to wriggle out of yet another situation I had gotten myself into.

I didn't count on the Night Fury being crazy smart or observant. Right away, it knew I had faked eating the fish it had given me. Its face twisted into a snarl, threatening me to eat the fish. Or _else_.

I sighed. I didn't want to do this. I just knew I was going to get sick off of one bite. But I guess when a dragon tells you to do something, you had better do it. I raised the fish to my mouth again and slowly bit into it, trying to keep my lips off of the fish hide. I tried to take one of those minimalist bites, where you don't want to have anything to do with the food because it's awful. Or it looks gross. For me, it was both reasons. But I had a problem. My teeth wouldn't cut into the hide. It was too tough. _Crud_, I thought. I bit harder and slowly tore off a small chunk of fish, holding it in my mouth. I showed the dragon that I had really taken a bite this time, thinking I would be able to spit out the piece of raw fish in my mouth soon.

The Night Fury raised its ear flaps in interest, but just continued looking at me. Then my situation got worse. The dragon made a swallowing movement, telling me to actually eat the piece of fish, because it had given me the meal. As a gift.

My shoulders slumped. Yep, I was gonna get sick off of this. I quickly tried to swallow the piece of fish, hoping I could get rid of the aftertaste within the near future. I tried once and my throat forced it right back up. No good, I felt like I was going to hurl soon. I swallowed again, this time in agony, because my throat wanted to reject the fish again, but I wasn't going to give it a choice. The piece of fish went down with a lot of complaint, but the Night Fury looked satisfied this time.

"Ugh," I groaned. That was gross. No doubt, I preferred my fish cooked. Thoroughly. Heck, even burning the fish was better than raw.

The dragon smacked its lips together a couple of times, probably asking me if I thought it was good. _Not even maybe_, I thought. Raw fish tasted horrible. But I knew if I was going to even have a prayer of getting out of this cove alive, I'd have to convince the dragon I liked it. I gave an unnatural smile, considering I had done something that would make most people faint. I was trying to lie my way out of this problem.

The Night Fury suddenly looked very interested in what I was doing, because it blinked a few times and I saw its eyes cloud over in concentration. Its mouth was twitching, trying to do something it wasn't familiar with. After a couple of seconds it had the left half of its face wrenched into a mock-smile, trying to copy me. The right side of its face soon followed. I just kept the same dumb look on my face, not wanting to incur the dragon's wrath again.

I noticed the dragon's teeth were retracted. _Toothless_, I thought. Ironic nickname for a killing machine. But, hey, I have that kind of sense of humor about things. I guessed the dragon was male.

Toothless had his face drawn into a hilarious attempt at a smile, trying to copy me. I put the half fish with a bite missing down and tried to reach up. I wanted to show him that I wasn't a threat, and I'd probably come back with more fish. Slowly, I reached toward his snout, trying to touch him. That was mistake number I-don't-know in this little excursion, because Toothless turned his "smile" into a snarl, including teeth, within a millisecond and growled at me. His eyes went from round to slits, and his ear flaps turned backwards. He flew off to the other side of the cove, caroming into the ground. I watched as Toothless shook his head slightly and breathed a continuous stream of white fire, charring the ground. He tromped on the ground a few times and curled up, like he was about to go to sleep.

Slowly and cautiously, I crept around and sat down near him, where he had his piercing yellow-green eyes closed. My cover was blown, however, by a small bird chirping and flying off. It caught Toothless's attention and his gaze turned in my direction. I just sat there, hoping he would let me touch him. I had a feeling that I could gain his trust, because he stared at me for a short moment before groaning, adjusting his position and hiding his eyes behind his one remaining tail fin. He didn't try to escape. He didn't "go for the kill." I _knew_ I could do this.

As quietly as I could go, I sidled up to him, trying to reach his tail. I got within a few inches before his tail fin instantaneously disappeared, revealing Toothless glaring at me. I quickly stood up and shuffled away, hoping Toothless wouldn't blast me with a fireball. He just huffed in irritation.

He lay there on his charred spot, watching me. I decided not to try again with him there, or I just might earn a fireball to the face. I shuffled around, kicking up a little bit of dust, finding a stick about four feet long. It was light and had a narrow tip. I sat down on a small boulder about twenty feet away from Toothless with my back to him and dragged the stick aimlessly in the dirt. Waiting, as a plan for the afternoon formed itself in my mind. Every now and then, I rubbed out the scratches with my foot and started again. After about the fifth restart, my hand took on a life of its own, trying to draw a portrait of Toothless. I had gotten a few good looks at Toothless's face and thought about how I wanted to draw it. I figured it was practice for if (or more accurately, when) I felt like updating the Night Fury section of the Book of Dragons.

I had gotten the general shape of his head and was working on the eyes when I heard something on four legs shuffling up behind me. If it was Toothless, I wasn't going to turn around. I was forming a plan in my mind on how I wanted to show him I wasn't a threat. In fact, I wanted to help him get out of here.

I had gotten the second eye done when I felt a short _whuff_ on my back. Yep, it was Toothless. He watched the end of the stick as I finished his portrait in the dirt, churring with interest as I drew. The entire time, I never turned around. It was difficult, trying to keep my focus in front of me, while hoping Toothless would get my message.

I heard Toothless snort and lumber off. To my right, he ripped off a large branch from a tree growing at the bottom of the cove. My curiosity finally got the better of me as I watched him drag the broken end of the branch back toward my little area. He began moving in a flowing, random path, dragging the branch in the ground, creating a furrow wherever he went. Occasionally, he switched directions and dragged the branch in the opposite direction. I just watched in fascination, finally realizing Toothless was trying to copy me. I thought about the first entry I was going to add to the Night Fury page: observant and displays mimicking behavior.

Toothless picked up the branch and glanced at me, his eyes and ears telling me he was content. He touched the branch into the ground, making a "dot" in the middle of his drawing before he resumed dragging the branch. I watched as he galloped behind me, twirling. The leafy end of the branch smacked me in the back of the head, but I paid it no mind. I was too dumbstruck to react.

Toothless finally dropped the branch next to his feet and sighed in contentment. He looked at his "drawing" like it was the finest creation of anything anyone had ever done. I just stood up and looked around. It looked like a bunch of squiggles and curves with no definable shape. But Toothless was proud of it.

Aimlessly, I took one step to start walking somewhere. I wasn't sure where I was going to go, but I was going to go somewhere. My right foot came down on top of Toothless's drawing. Once again, he turned his face from that contented stare to a snarl (teeth included), growling at me. I jumped and lifted my right foot. Toothless gave a low sigh, telling me he was happy I wasn't going to destroy his artwork. Just to make sure, I touched my right toe on the drawing again. And Toothless gave me another snarl. I knew if I kept this up, he'd eventually get angry and launch a fireball in my direction, so I lifted my foot again and placed it between the furrows Toothless had created. He reacted by giving that sigh again. The way I had it figured, a happy dragon was better than an angry dragon. Especially when that dragon was a Night Fury. Especially _especially_ when I was the only target nearby.

I waltzed and tiptoed around Toothless's artwork, avoiding the lines until I had gotten out of my "prison." Then I felt it. A short _whuff_ again on the back of my head. This time, I turned around, seeing Toothless mere feet away from my face with that expectant look on his face again. His eyes were round, piercing directly into me.

_This was it_. The moment I had been waiting for this whole afternoon. Slowly, I reached up with my right hand and held it open, moving cautiously towards Toothless's snout. He snarled at me again, but this time it was more reserved. Like he wanted this to happen too. It just had to be his idea, not mine. Toothless didn't try to get away from me, but he did want to make sure that he was in control of the situation.

I took a deep breath, trying to hide any anxiety I had, because what I was about to do was going to shove this afternoon from ridiculously stupid into a level of stupid that was beyond Hiccup-esque. I was going to offer my hand to Toothless to do whatever he wanted with it. I closed my eyes and turned my head away from the black dragon in front of me, placing my trust in him. Like he wanted. If he took my hand off, then Gobber could show me how to use a prosthesis. If he killed me, then so be it. I wanted to cry or scream because I knew I was doing the exact action you _never_ wanted to do in front of a dragon. I was waiting for Toothless to decide what to do with me.

I heard a low sigh and felt the breath from Toothless's snout get closer to my hand. He was going to take it off, I just knew it. He wouldn't let me get away with ripping one of his tail fins off without some punishment. I figured with how smart Toothless was, he'd probably bite clean through my elbow. My face tensed, getting ready for unimaginable pain.

But it never happened. I felt a gentle pressure on my right palm. My eyes opened, and I looked to see what Toothless was doing. His snout was resting in my palm, eyes closed. No biting. No fire. Toothless was telling me that I was okay. That I could trust him.

That he trusted me.

I wanted this moment to last forever. Me, a Viking, touching a dragon. Possibly building a friendship with a killing machine. A friendship with nature's most dangerous airborne creature.

A forbidden friendship.

I let Toothless stay there until he decided what to do next. Slowly, he pulled back and looked at me. Blinked. Then he snorted and dashed off. I looked at my hand and saw it was still there. No damage. Looked at Toothless, who was charring the ground again so he could get some real sleep this time. It was getting late, and the sun had already sunk below the rim of the cove. I could barely see him except for his piercing yellow-green eyes, which looked way more benevolent now than they did just a couple of hours ago. He just stared at me without moving. I thought about approaching him again, but decided against it. I was going to take this slowly. My guess was that my father would be away for about a fortnight, so I figured I could get a bond with this dragon underway during that time. Slowly, I turned away, heading for the exit. I heard Toothless sigh and put his head down to sleep as I walked away.

"Goodnight, Toothless," I whispered to the night air in front of me. "See you tomorrow."

I was flooded with warm fuzzy feelings as I ambled my way back to Berk. Toothless had, if only briefly, accepted me for who I was when his snout met my hand. There was no judgment passed, no telling me I didn't belong there. It was just Toothless letting me know that he understood who I was, even if it was rudimentary. Somehow, I felt like I was able to relate better to Toothless, a dragon, than any Viking in Berk.

* * *

I got back to Berk, noticing Gobber and the other teenagers were exchanging horror stories around an outdoor firepit. They were eating supper together. Needless to say, Gobber had way more to say than all of them combined.

"Ah, Hiccup!" he said as I approached. "Come join us!" He held out a skewered salmon for me. I took it and held it in the fire, making sure that it was not going to be raw when I started eating.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Gobber continued his story I had interrupted by showing up. "And he bit my hand off and swallowed it whole," he said, motioning with his prosthetic skewer, which held a whole cooked chicken. "I saw the look on his face. I was delicious. He must have told all his friends, because not two months later, another one took my leg." All of the teens except for me were enraptured with his story. I was focused on the fish at the end of my skewer, watching it blacken as the heat wrapped around it.

"Man, I'm so _angry_ right now!" Snotlout gritted. I glanced up at him. Snotlout was prone to these bizarre outbursts, so I turned my attention back to the fish. "I'll get revenge for your beautiful hand and foot. I'm going to chop off the legs of every dragon I meet…with my face." I looked at him in confusion. Thinking that would take amazing skill. My dad would be hard-pressed to compete with Snotlout's promise.

"Mm-mm," Gobber said, ripping off one of the legs from his cooked chicken. "You can use your face, but don't go for the legs." I pulled the fish out of the fire. Examined it. Not raw. It was safe to eat.

"Why?" Snotlout asked.

"Because if you remove one leg, the dragon can still walk, stand and fly. It's the wings and tails you want to attack."

The rest of the teenagers stared at Gobber, waiting for an explanation. His spiel hadn't connected with me, so I was about to take a bite of my thoroughly cooked salmon.

"You take off the wings or tails, and the dragon can't fly anymore. A downed dragon is a dead dragon." I had taken a bite of fish when Gobber's explanation crashed its way into my brain. I choked on the bite and brought up pieces of fish from coughing so hard.

"Are you okay?" Astrid asked. "Geez, it looks like you just saw a ghost, Hiccup."

I held up a hand to show her everything was fine and continued coughing. Eventually, I dislodged all of the fish in my throat and said, "Yeah, uh, I'm fine." I continued eating my fish because I knew I needed to get some food in me. After hearing what Gobber had said, I knew Toothless was in trouble, so I wolfed down the third meal of the day. I figured this was going to be a loooooong night. And a hellish morning, because we'd resume dragon training.

"Wouldn't it be cool if, like, when a dragon eats your hand or something," Fishlegs started, "if, like, you still had control over your hand and you could, like, kill the dragon from the inside. You know, maybe something like crush its heart."

I heard Ruffnut ask her twin, "You got a tattoo?" She didn't pay attention to any of Fishlegs's idea.

"When?" her brother asked. "Oh, this? I've had this since I was, like, three."

"No, I've been right by your side since birth, and I _know_ that wasn't there recently."

"Yes it was. You've just never seen me from the left side before. That's all." Ruffnut rolled her eyes at him.

There was an awkward pause. Astrid broke it, asking, "Hiccup, you're awfully quiet. Is there something going on?"

I froze, looking at her. "Um…not really. Just…well, nothing's on my mind right now."

Before anyone could say anything else, Gobber interrupted our broken conversation. He yawned audibly and said, "It's getting late. I'm off to bed. You should be too." He pointed in our general direction as he said this. "Slowly, we're working our way to bigger and more dangerous beasts," he said eerily. "Who among you will be the one to kill a dragon?"

"It's gonna be me. I just know it, 'cause it's my destiny," Tuffnut said, leaning back with arrogance.

"Are you serious?" Snotlout asked. "There's no way you could even touch a dragon."

"Yeah there is. I'll show you tomorrow," Tuffnut countered.

"Deal!" Snotlout said excitedly.

I used the distraction provided by Gobber, Tuffnut and Snotlout to finish the salmon. I quietly put the skewer down, stood up and snuck away toward the armory. I hoped nobody would follow me, so I took a meandering route through home to get there.

I crept into the armory and waited for about five minutes. Nobody came calling, and I watched Gobber walk back into his house. Good. Time for the main event. I walked into my little workroom and sat down at my desk.

I had never embarked on a project this intense in my life. I knew this would be probably the most difficult idea anyone could ever conceive as a blacksmith. And I had nothing at all to start with. No plans, no drawings, no designs. This was all going to have to be designed in my head and created with my hands.

From concept to creation, I had to build a functional tail fin for Toothless.

The first problem I ran into was the dimensions of the fin. I pulled out my notebook and flipped to the page with my Toothless drawing. The right tail fin had been rubbed out, so I drew it back in with three crossing lines. I knew these would hold the tail fin rigid when it was extended. But it also needed to be collapsible. I figured I could get to that later. But the dimensions. If I got these wrong, it would be an entire night wasted and another night making a new fin.

I remembered when Toothless was hiding his eyes from me earlier his tail fin was roughly the height of his head. The length of the fin was probably from my neck to my waist. Two and a half feet, give or take. I eventually settled on this number, simply because I was going with my gut feeling. I was going to trust my instincts, seeing whether I could just let my creativity flow.

I had a blank sheet of parchment in front of me, so I began drawing the specific design parameters I needed. There would be a metal rod holding the fin in place on the dragon's tail. Three crossing beams to hold the fin open or closed. The fin would open and close using ball-and-socket joints. The fin would have to be held together by a sturdy leather. I wrote down the specific numbers I thought I would need for each dimension: the length and diameter of the central rod, the width of the ball bearings, the length and width of each beam, distance from the central rod to the end of the leather. Lots of numbers, lots of sketches.

I started with the central rod first. I had never made something this intricate before, because it had a ball bearing affixed to one end, which prevented the leather from sliding off, and three hinge joints at regular intervals going down the rod. The hinge on the end controlled the rest of the crossing beams, forcing them to open or close. The joint was held together using shaped screws from the shields we had lying around the armory. I wrenched them out and shaped them for the hinge. I also fashioned several ball bearings. You could never have too many of these, so any extras I saved for later.

I made the three crossing beams and designed them with their sockets, finally securing the ball bearings into the central rod. The fin wouldn't open or close until I got the leather on, but each joint could move fluidly, indicating to me the joints worked perfectly. Searching around the armory, I found a large sheet of leather that felt sturdy enough to work as the prosthetic fin. I laid it on the ground and placed the frame on top, the central rod in the middle of the sheet. I folded the sheet over on itself and cut away any spare area of leather I didn't need for the fin. I left a quarter-inch between the end of the leather and ball bearings on the ends of the rods, making sure the leather wouldn't be stressed at all. I also cut out holes where the joints were so that the leather would be completely flat and aerodynamic. Toothless was built for speed, and I kept thinking about how to design the tail fin for speed.

I sewed the leather to itself on either side of each crossing beam and on the inside of the central rod. Working the first crossing beam on the tail fin, the leather folded up neatly on itself. I pulled the beam back toward me and the fin expanded to a fin-like shape. Success. Well, for now. I'd have to see whether the tail fin actually fit Toothless or not.

I cut two leather straps to work as fasteners to Toothless's tail and outfitted them with small belt buckles. I threaded them through the holes that had been cut in the leather. We were ready for tomorrow. Boy, _this_ was going to be interesting. I hid the prosthetic fin inside my little corner, underneath the drawing table. Gobber usually never ventured into here, simply because he didn't understand what all of the drawings and designs meant. No interest to him, as long as I was keeping out of trouble. I figured I _was_ keeping out of trouble because I hadn't been caught helping a dragon. Like they say, it's not illegal unless you get caught.

I walked home and tried to catch some sleep before morning could find me.


	5. Chapter 5

Breakfast was uneventful again. I ate a (cooked) fish and walked back home. We had a large basket for carrying supplies at the armory, which I grabbed along with the tail fin. I sauntered behind the great hall and filled the basket with fish. An eel caught my eye. Rare treat for some. For me, I didn't like eel a whole lot, but maybe Toothless would.

I carried the basket slung over my shoulder, trying to hurry so I could get to the cove without having my arm break. Panting, I placed the basket down at the entrance of the cove and rested. After I caught my breath, I shoved the basket underneath the shield that was still lodged between the rocks and crawled in after it.

I carried the basket down to the bottom of the cove, where Toothless just watched me.

"Oh, Toooo-oothless," I said in a singsong way. "I brought breakfast. Hope you're hungry." I set the basket and prosthetic tail fin down about twenty feet away from him and watched. He sniffed at the air and noticed it smelled like food. He stood, stretched and loped over to the basket and looked at me with anticipation, licking his lips.

I kicked the basket over, spilling its contents. "Okay, that's disgusting. I brought you a bunch of fish and a whole smoked eel." I saw his eyes brighten as the fish cascaded out of the basket.

Toothless nosed into the pile of fish, looking for the best ones to eat first. The pile shifted slightly and the eel began sliding down the pile, where Toothless saw it brush his front right foot. His eyes narrowed to slits and his ears collapsed to the back of his head. He finished his statement about eels by snarling at me. Toothless glared directly into my eyes, telling me in no uncertain terms what he was thinking. _Brilliant, Hiccup_, I thought sarcastically. The eel was next to his right foot, just inches away, and I found out very quickly Toothless hated eel. What made it even worse was that he wouldn't move away from the eel, forcing me to pick it up for him. This wasn't good, especially when I had just barely gained his trust last night. I'd have to pray to the gods that he wouldn't plaster me with a fireball when I got close.

Slowly, I eased my way around the fish, which would have probably been really enticing for him. But I had to play his little game by his rules and get the eel out of the way. Apparently, Toothless was a finicky eater. I kept my eyes on Toothless, who just growled at me the entire time, telling me to hurry up and get the eel away from him. I crouched down as far away from Toothless as I could get, just barely reaching the eel with my fingertips. He didn't stop growling as I slowly removed the eel from his foot.

I had forgotten eels are very slippery, even when dead or cooked. The eel slid out of my fingertips and collapsed directly against Toothless's front right foot. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Toothless reared back on his hind legs and roared in panic. He backed up a few feet and snarled at me. To make sure I understood him completely, he shot a fireball about ten feet to my left. It hit the ground with a hollow explosion, leaving a scorch mark for me to think about. Toothless returned his glare to me. Quickly, I picked up the eel. Held it up in front of him and asked, "You don't like eel?" His face turned to a grimace of disgust as he turned his head away from the eel, snarling. He still had his eyes fixed on it, worried it might contaminate him or something. "Yeah, I don't either," I said, tossing the eel to the other side of the stream.

The eel hit the ground, but Toothless just stood there, glaring. He was growling softly, telling me that if I made the same mistake again, I wouldn't be so lucky. I couldn't move. I was too frightened. Toothless crept toward the pile of fish, all the while keeping me in his sight. He nosed gently through the pile checking for any other eels.

"No more eels," I said shakily. Toothless didn't seem to believe me. He kept working his way to the bottom of the pile and brought his head back up with a small fish in his mouth. He swallowed as his demeanor slowly turned back to anticipating. His eyes weren't slits anymore.

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, that's good," I said calmly. "I'm just gonna go over here," I mumbled quietly as I sidled over to his tail, trying not to attract his attention. "Minding my own business…no need to worry about me…"

Good grief, Toothless could eat. By the time I had gotten to his tail, he was already most of the way through with the fish. I laid the prosthetic fin down next to his tail and got ready to strap it on. I thought Toothless would be generally still while eating, but his tail was moving back and forth, deftly avoiding the fin. He didn't seem aware of me behind him because I didn't hear him growl or snarl at me. I grabbed a hold of his tail to keep it steady while I threaded the leather straps underneath and looped them into the buckles. I had gotten one strap underneath his tail when Toothless shoved his head into the basket, trying to get the last couple of fish that had somehow avoided revealing themselves to the hungry dragon. His tail went with him, and I lost my balance, nearly falling face-first onto the prosthetic fin. _That_ was too close. I sat down on his tail, back facing him while I worked the other strap around his tail.

I heard a curious grunt come from Toothless. Better hurry. I cinched up the straps to make sure they were tight when Toothless wiggled his tail experimentally, trying to figure out what I was doing to him. His remaining tail fin flapped a little as I spread out the prosthetic fin, realizing I had guessed the size almost perfectly. I smiled a little at myself, proud that one of my ideas actually worked.

"Doesn't look too bad," I mumbled to no one. "Looks like it'll work." I heard a low _whoosh_ as Toothless spread his wings. "Uh-oh," I managed to say as I took hold of Toothless's tail.

Toothless launched off the ground with power that I had no idea a creature could harbor. "WHOA!" I screamed. "OH, NO-NO-NO-NO-NO!" I was hanging on for dear life, eyes shut, experiencing first-hand just how powerful a dragon was during flight. I could feel each wingbeat as Toothless gained altitude.

Toothless began cantering to his right. It didn't feel like he was in control. It felt like when he was trying to escape the cove a couple days back, seeing him struggle to fly. I opened my eyes and saw the tail fin was collapsed. Well, silly me. It wasn't going to control itself. I felt Toothless dropping like a rock as I grabbed the main crossing beam and pulled the fin open.

All of my blood rushed to my head as Toothless pulled up, feeling in control once again. He just barely got back on track, because my forearm brushed the grass at the bottom of his freefall. Just like when he took off, I felt everything through his tail. His breath coming in massive gasps. His wings churning through the air as he tried to reach the sky. I held the fin open with one hand and held onto his tail with the other, my legs locked around his tail as well.

I felt Toothless attempt to bank and realized something was amiss. The fin had no mobility. It could only open or close. Toothless needed mobility in his fin if he wanted to be able to _do_ anything while flying. Otherwise, this fin was only good for flying in a straight line. I just hoped my design was good enough to get back down to the ground in one piece.

Toothless must have realized the same thing too, because his idea of banking was way too much to handle. I felt him losing altitude and quickly. He adjusted by making a slow, wide turn, knowing there wasn't a whole lot he could do in the air. But he could at least fly somewhere, and that was one place more than yesterday.

I watched the ground zip by me as Toothless flew and saw that the cove was underneath us again. I thought we were going to land neatly and Toothless would be thrilled with my little accomplishment. "YES! YES! I DID IT! IT'S WORKING!" I shouted.

We were flying over the lake in the far corner of the cove when Toothless must have heard me. Without warning, he whipped around, his tail flinging me off at what had to be the fastest speed any Viking had ever moved. I screamed at the top of my lungs; maybe somebody in Berk would hear and be able to catch me. I was moving fast enough to skip like a flat stone not once, but twice across the water's surface. After that second bounce, I fell into the water and sprang back up to the surface to see if Toothless was okay. He looked back at his tail fin and realized there would be nobody there to hold it open. He shrieked in disbelief as he skidded into the lake about fifty feet away from me.

"YEAH!" I shouted, jumping out of the water. I had forgotten the lake was pretty deep, so my head went under after that jump. I resurfaced and swam to shore. Toothless clambered out of the lake, grumbling. I hoisted myself out of the water with a huge grin on my face. The tail fin worked perfectly for today. It wasn't acceptable for what Toothless needed, but I could always make improvements. I had learned early on in the armory when trying to make something difficult, the best way to go is to make small, incremental improvements and not try to make everything work at once.

I started to make my way toward Toothless when he saw me and galloped his way over. His eyes were huge and his ears were up, so he must have been happy. He sniffed at me briefly then looked me in the eyes. I had no idea what to do, so I just stood there in uncertainty. Toothless closed his eyes and lowered his head in front of me. It was like he was paying me back for last night. He was allowing me to decide what to do with him.

I gently rubbed the top of his head, whispering, "Thanks, Toothless." He gave a low groan of approval. He was beginning to trust me, even after the eel adventure. At that moment, I realized I was the only Viking in Berk who would even think about befriending a dragon. But more importantly, I _knew_ I was the only Viking in Berk who would try to help a downed dragon fly again.

But I had to make improvements on the tail fin first. It needed to move up and down. It also needed to be able to close or open partially. A continuum of movements. How was I going to design it? Better yet, how in the world was I going to teach Toothless how to use his prosthetic tail fin?

Wait. I was smart enough to know how. What if I could control the fin? What if I could help Toothless fly, like a helmsman does on a ship?

_Bingo_. The idea crashed itself into my mind fully formed, designed and ready to be built.

I took my hand away from Toothless's head. He opened his eyes and looked at me. And sighed in content. He was happy with what I did for him. I fed him and gave him an opportunity to fly. And maybe some company. I slowly walked around to his tail, hoping I could steal the prosthetic fin for a night and make improvements to it. As I sidled along, I asked him, "Toothless, can I take your fin back? I'll bring it again tomorrow." I laughed a little on the inside, realizing I was talking to a dragon. Who wouldn't respond.

But Toothless just sat there and let me remove the fin from his tail, apparently understanding he couldn't fly very well with it in its current shape. He must have remembered that bank he tried to pull off midway through his trial flight. I closed the fin and stood up. He just looked at me, pleading me with his eyes to bring the fin back. Improved, so he could bank.

"I promise," I said to him. I stroked his head again, listening to him purr. He looked at me one more time and loped off to a corner to lie down. I just stared at him, thinking he was truly amazing.

I picked up the discarded eel on my way out of the cove, remembering Toothless's reaction to it earlier. I was wondering if I could somehow cheat today's dragon training, because after two brief and benevolent interactions with Toothless, I was starting to dislike training more and more. As I walked back to Berk with the eel hidden under my vest, I wondered if all dragons might be like Toothless inside.

* * *

Gobber slammed the lever down and a new door opened. The first time, a Gronckle came raging out. The second time, we just heard the Nadder come out warbling. This time, however, was a real shock to us. Greenish gas exploded out of the pen, enveloping half the arena. The Hideous Zippleback was our lesson for the day.

Gobber had instructed each of us to grab a bucket of water for one specific reason. "A dragon cannot produce fire if its head is wet," he explained to us. "The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, and the other lights it."

Fishlegs and I were one team. Astrid and Ruffnut made the second team and Tuffnut and Snotlout were the last team. We couldn't see each other because of the Zippleback's fog.

Fishlegs hunkered down in fear, explaining in gruesome detail how dangerous a Zippleback was. "Razor-sharp teeth that inject venom into its prey for predigestion. Prefers ambush attack over…"

"_WILL YOU STOP THAT?!_" I whispered to him.

Fishlegs stopped his explanation immediately and then asked, "Hiccup, why do you smell like fish?"

Uh-oh. I had to think of a lie, and quick. "I, uh, I just ate a fish for lunch," I whispered.

"That…smells like eel," he pointed out.

"Can we talk about this later?" I asked. Fishlegs dropped the conversation, because all of us heard a low growl from somewhere in the fog.

To my right, I heard Snotlout say, "If that dragon shows either of its faces…Huh? THERE!" He and Tuffnut splashed their water at two silhouettes emerging through the fog, which were Astrid and Ruffnut.

"Heeey! It's us, idiot!" Ruffnut shouted.

"It is?" Tuffnut said sarcastically. "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were a dragon."

"Not that there's anything really _wrong _with a dragonesque figure," Snotlout added, trying to keep Astrid's ire away from him.

It didn't work, because Ruffnut threw her bucket full of water at her twin, knocking him onto his rear, and Astrid strode in and smacked Snotlout across the face with her water bucket. The Zippleback must have taken advantage of their distraction, because all of us heard a low, ominous growl from the fog somewhere.

"Shh! Listen!" Astrid said as Ruffnut went to pick up her now-empty bucket.

Nothing happened for an instant. Then two things happened in quick sequence. First, a long green tail swept Astrid off her feet. Her bucket emptied its contents as she fell. She yelped as she landed on her backside. Immediately after, I heard Tuffnut scream as he was dragged backwards into the fog. He came running out a few seconds later without his helmet but otherwise intact, shouting, "OH, I AM HURT! I AM VERY MUCH DEFINITELY HURT!" He continued running toward the exit and stayed there, out of the way. Where he was in full sight because there was no fog there.

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now," Fishlegs informed me. He was visibly quivering.

I heard a low growl in the fog. It was getting closer. A shadow appeared. "_Freeze_," I whispered to Fishlegs. I didn't want to repeat what Tuffnut and Snotlout did with their water. Fishlegs just stayed there, quivering.

Slowly, a greenish head with yellow eyes and an evil smile snaked into view. The Zippleback. Its face was locked into that wicked smile, so staring at it was probably one of the most horrifying things anyone could think of. It spied Fishlegs as I was inching my way backwards.

"Uhh," Fishlegs muttered, shaking so bad his water was spilling out of the bucket. He hesitated for a second and then splashed his water onto the dragon's head. Mission accomplished.

The dragon's head shook off some of the water and opened its mouth slightly, leering at Fishlegs, daring him to soak it again. A small amount of greenish gas spilled out as a taunt. "Oh, wrong head," Fishlegs observed. The dragon opened its mouth further and spewed enough gas to envelop Fishlegs entirely. He screamed and ran toward the other side of the arena. I was locked up in fear, watching the whole spectacle.

I saw the dragon's other head emerge from the fog. Both of them were looking at me, the left head was the gas-breathing head, and the right head was the sparking head. The Zippleback must have seen the water in my bucket because its sparking head rose up to about ten feet and began sparking with that slightly jerking movement.

"NOW, HICCUP!" Gobber shouted.

Without hesitating, I splashed the water towards the sparking head and watched as it fell miserably short. "Oh, come on," I mumbled.

Now that my bucket was empty, the Zippleback's sparking head came back to within a few feet of my own face and began trying to spark again. Green gas was all around me, so I was a goner.

"HICCUP!" Gobber shouted. I heard him running, listening to the alternating _pat-clunk_ sound of his footsteps.

The dragon's sparking head came closer. It stared me in the face, then halted. It felt like the dragon saw something it was afraid of.

An eel.

Slowly, I pulled the left side of my vest back, revealing my secret weapon. I put on the best sadistic grin I could muster for the dragon and stood up, making sure the dragon had a clear view of the eel.

"Back! Back!" I shouted to the dragon, as it backed away in abject fear of a nice bit of seafood. I made a show with my hands, so that I would at least appear somewhat convincing. One of its heads gave a short bleat as it backpedaled. The dragon had no intention of starting a fire, only get away from the dangerous eel. I made sure the only individuals who could see the eel were me and the Zippleback.

I corralled it into its pen and said as convincingly as possible, "Into your cage. Now why don't you think about what you've done?"

In a last-second spark of mercy, I hid the eel again under my vest. Didn't want anyone to find evidence that I had just tricked all of Berk. I closed the door and pulled the lever down, locking it, and made a show of dusting myself off as I turned around to face everyone.

"So…are we done?" I asked innocently. All six of their mouths were open. Fishlegs dropped his empty bucket without even looking, completely shocked that Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III had just shown a fearsome dragon what happens when he gets angry. "Okay, well, um. I've got some things to, you know. Yep. Got some…see you tomorrow!" I stuttered as I hurried out of the arena. Apparently everyone was still in shock because nobody followed me. I hurried to the back of the great hall and placed the eel into the trash pile, noting with dismay that my vest and shirt smelled like seafood. Oh, well. If anyone found out about what I had just done, I could go to my grave knowing that I had a heck of a laugh shocking everyone like that.

I snuck into the armory, looking for a parchment with orders on it. _Please let me find a saddle_, I begged the air in front of me. If there was an order for a saddle, I could cover it up with the next step for my plan with Toothless.

Sure enough, the first item on the list was a saddle. Ordered by the one and only Hoark. Oh, I was gonna make a saddle all right. Not for a horse. For a Night Fury.

Before I could start, Gobber marched into the armory and announced, "There you are, Hiccup. I was wondering where you went."

"Well, here I am," I said dryly.

"All right. How did you do that? And why do you smell like eel?"

"Do what?" I lied. The only way I was gonna answer his other question was if he brought it up again.

"Don't play games with me, Hiccup. Yesterday and the day before you were completely helpless. But today, what happened?"

"I improved? I think that book on dragons was really helpful, except for the Night Fury page."

Gobber scratched his chin in bewilderment, "Yeah, if someone could actually see the dragon, we could complete the page. But how did you…" he started before trailing off.

"Uh, I guess I just got lucky," I said truthfully. I knew Toothless hated eel, but it was a huge risk to see if a standard Hideous Zippleback would hate it too. "And, uh, can I get started on this saddle?" I asked. I knew I was running out of excuses about the Zippleback, so I tried to steer the conversation to a different topic. Maybe Gobber would give up and leave me in peace so I could work on "Jamu's" saddle.

"Sure," Gobber said. "Just make sure you do a good job on it. Hoark's horse seems to have broken her last one."

I rolled my eyes. "_His_ horse? Is that what he told you?"

"It's exactly what he told me."

"And you believe him, don't you?"

"Well, yes," Gobber said matter-of-factly. "Hoark says you aren't strong enough to make a saddle for him."

I rolled my eyes in disgust. "Figures. I would like to tell him that he's driving Jamu into the ground every day. But he would never believe me."

"And why should he? He can't stand all…all…this," Gobber said, motioning in my general direction.

"You just pointed to all of me," I said dryly. "Since all _this_ is too much for him," I said, motioning to myself in general, "Why don't _you_ tell Hoark yourself?"

"Okay, fine. I'll let you get to work on that saddle. And I'll try to tell Hoark not to break another saddle. This is the fourth one in a month. Oh, and be in front of the armory tomorrow morning." I nodded as Gobber left the armory. Time for the show.

I walked back to my design room and pulled out a fresh sheet of parchment. In one corner, I drew a design for a connector that would join the main rod and crossing beams in Toothless's prosthetic fin. It was a simple change, just make the connectors curved so that the tail fin could move up and down as well as open and close. I also grabbed a long piece of twine that I would use to control the fin's movements with my left hand.

I made the connectors and rounded them out so that they would slide easily in the tail fin and replaced the original connectors with the new ones. Task one completed. The saddle, however, was going to be a challenge.

I mulled the saddle design over thoroughly in my head, because it had to be perfect. I had my notebook out with my drawing of Toothless staring me in the face. He had a line of small ridges on his back, presumably beginning just below his neck. I had to take those into account. I knew the saddle couldn't sit too far on his back because it would get in the way of his wings. So I decided to set it up just in front of his shoulder blades, behind his neck. I also needed a way to keep the saddle on Toothless. I thought back to a horse's saddle, where there are leather straps that feed between its front legs. There's another leather strap that goes in a loop underneath the horse's chest. The feeder and loop straps connect using a piece of leather on the bottom. That's what I based my design on. The two loops, I made using more belt-type buckles, and the connector just held on between the two loops.

I was glad I could make saddles without too much trouble. The frame wasn't too bad to make. In fact, it was a little easier than a standard horse's frame. Toothless was wide enough around that I wouldn't have to worry about the saddle extending over his sides. The frame had less curvature around the edges, but had more of a bulge in the middle due to Toothless's back ridges.

I made Toothless's saddle just like any other horse's saddle from that point, finishing in just over six hours. Record time, probably because I _really_ wanted to do this project. It wasn't like someone asked me to make a saddle for Toothless. _He_ didn't even ask me, but I was going to anyway.

For good measure, I made the frame for Jamu and left it in the armory. Making a saddle for a horse now seemed dull, considering that I had just made a one-of-a-kind saddle for a Night Fury named Toothless. I hid the saddle and prosthetic tail fin underneath my drawing board for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

I bolted up early the next morning, excited again. Nothing could stop me. I ate a mushy, stale breakfast and ran over to the armory, where Gobber was working away at the saddle for Hoark.

"G'morning," I said to Gobber, heading straight for my little area.

"Hiccup, I need to talk with you, lad," Gobber said.

I froze with one leg in my workroom, thinking Gobber had seen something I didn't want him to see, like Toothless's saddle or tail fin. My lungs froze and I felt my lips blanch. "Uh, w-what did you need?" If I told him I was in a hurry, I'd be in huge trouble and so would Toothless.

"I just wanted to tell you that we won't be doing dragon training today."

I slumped in relief. Toothless's saddle and tail fin were a mere ten feet away from Gobber, and he didn't know one bit about them. "Oh. Okay," I said. "Thanks." I snuck into my workroom and pulled the saddle and tail fin out. Gobber had already turned back to the saddle as I was walking out. As I got around the corner, I said to him, "See you later." He motioned and mumbled something back. Safe.

I got to the cove and slid everything underneath the shield that was still stuck there. One of these days, I was gonna bring a sledgehammer and splinter that thing. But I had more pressing issues at the moment.

I strode down to the bottom of the cove with the saddle and tail fin underneath my right arm. Toothless came cautiously loping up to me, sniffing the air expectantly, like I was about to bring him breakfast.

"Sorry, Toothless," I told him. "I couldn't carry any fish today." He sat down on his haunches, looking at me. But he didn't snarl or growl. He just sat there looking a little sad. I felt sorry for him, because I might have been the only reason he was getting food at all. Note for future: bring fish every day.

I pulled Toothless's tail fin out from under my arm and his eyes widened. His pupils were round, showing he was excited. A chance to fly again must have been amazing for Toothless.

"Yeah, I knew you'd like to see this again," I mused to him. He let me walk around and attach the tail fin without any fuss. No problems. But he took an interest in his saddle. He kept sniffing at it, trying to figure out what it was. I held it in front of him, letting the loops and leather straps hang down.

I watched Toothless go from excited and happy to defensive within a second. His eyes narrowed and his ear flaps collapsed to the back of his head. "Uh-oh," I mumbled. Not good.

He crouched down on all fours with a grunt, ready to run off at a moment's notice. I crept toward Toothless slowly, hoping I could somehow sneak his saddle on. I took two steps and he bolted, me running to catch him. So, the first thing I learned today was that Night Furies are extremely quick on the ground, too. Not just the air.

Toothless wheeled around and took off in the opposite direction, leaving me in the dust. As he passed me, he turned his head and stuck out his tongue at me, making a sound that seemed like a combination between a grunt and a moan. I just stopped. Did a dragon just _insult_ me? After all I had done for him? I had no idea what to do.

Toothless stopped about fifteen feet away from me and looked at me. He sat back on his haunches again and made a movement like the day I had that fish for him. He smacked his lips together a couple of times, telling me he was hungry.

I sighed. "Really?" I asked him. He didn't respond, simply continuing to stare at me, pleading for more fish. I stepped toward him, and he growled at me. "Okay, fine," I said, defeated. "Don't go anywhere," I told him sarcastically. "I'll be back after a while." I carried the saddle back up the slope and through the entrance. I left it hidden under a rock while I went to Berk to fetch a basketful of fish.

Gobber was nowhere to be seen at the armory, so I quickly grabbed the basket and walked out. At the back of the great hall was a large collection of fish and a few eels. Briefly, I thought about hiding a couple of eels at the bottom of the basket because I was frustrated with Toothless. But then I remembered my goal was to get him flying again with me on his back. I had to earn his trust for that, and continually hiding a food he didn't like would never do any favors in winning Toothless over for me. I filled the basket about three quarters of the way with fish and lugged it back to the cove. Before I got there, I grabbed the saddle from underneath the rock and entered, once again ducking underneath the shield.

I carried the basket back down to the bottom of the cove, having spent the better part of an hour just walking back and forth. For Toothless. Just like earlier today, Toothless came cautiously loping up to me, sniffing at the basket. Probably making sure there were no eels in there today.

"No, I don't have any eels for you today," I said. I tipped the basket over and Toothless went to work gobbling down the fish.

I cautiously walked over to his side and put the saddle on his back. He stopped eating and shook, like a dog trying to get rid of water from its coat. The saddle flew off his back and landed about five feet away from him. On his _other_ side. Toothless glared at me and growled softly. I wasn't sure if he was telling me to stop, telling me to be careful because I didn't want to do something wrong, or telling me to wait until he was finished. I backed away from him a couple of steps as he resumed eating. And sighed. This was going to be a loooooong day if I couldn't get the saddle on him. I crept around to Toothless's other side and picked up the saddle, still in decent shape. The impact with the ground didn't hurt anything.

By the time I turned around to face Toothless again, he was still on all fours, but the fish were gone. I was five feet away from him, holding a saddle, looking at him to see what he would do. He just stared at me, hopefully in understanding that I wanted to get this saddle onto his back. Having me cling onto his tail for dear life was not a good way to fly. If I could just _convince_ Toothless of that…

Slowly, I walked toward him, each step expecting a growl from Toothless. He just stared. I placed the saddle on his back with the loops on the outsides of his front legs. And looked at him again. Toothless's eyes were a little rounder, a little more accepting of me. I smiled a little in relief and stroked his neck softly, saying, "Thanks, Toothless." He just blinked and murred softly. I knelt down next to his front right leg and reached around gingerly, still unsure if Toothless was okay with me fitting him with a saddle. He just watched me. I heard him exhale every few seconds, sounding like the bellows in the armory. I found the two sides to the belt and buckled it around Toothless's front leg. Slowly, I walked around his front and did the same with his left, making sure both loops weren't too tight on his legs.

Finally, I walked to his tail and tied the piece of twine around the main crossing beam so that I could control Toothless's prosthetic tail fin while in flight. The entire time, he just watched me.

This was gonna be awkward. How in the world was I going to tell Toothless that I wanted to get onto his back? Time for some trial and error. I looked him in the eyes. He just stared back. I glanced to the saddle on his back. He craned his neck and looked at it for a little bit, then turned to look at me again. Okay, that didn't work. We were back at square one.

"Can I get on your back, Toothless?" I asked him. He continued staring at me. Strike two. No good. His legs were still at standing height. I needed him to crouch on his front legs so I could climb onto his back.

Slowly, I shuffled over to his side, about an arm's length away. I still wasn't sure if he'd attack me. Besides that magical moment two evenings ago and an accidental flight yesterday, we had never been closer to each other than maybe three feet. But if I was gonna build a friendship with Toothless, that barrier would have to be broken sometime soon. Before my father got back.

I stood facing the saddle and slowly placed both arms onto Toothless's side. He grunted in curiosity, wondering what I was doing. I glanced at his eyes again and then back to the saddle. He blinked.

Slowly, Toothless crouched down, unsure if I was shamming him or not. I took a deep breath. Grabbed the twine and made my way to the saddle. I sat down, straddling Toothless's back just behind his head and neck.

"Okay, Toothless, let's try this," I said softly to him, stroking his side about where his front leg and shoulder met. Toothless made a noise that sounded like a combination between a grunt and a groan. He seemed to understand what I was thinking, because he spread his wings out slowly and hunched down, tensing.

Without warning, he took off. I barely had enough time to grab the front of the saddle with my right hand before we were airborne. "WHOA!" I shouted in surprise. Somehow, I had kept a hold of the twine in my left hand as I held onto the saddle for dear life. Toothless didn't seem to care that I was on his back, simply trying to move as quickly as he could in the air.

His first few wingbeats were pretty good, then I felt him canter to his right. With enough presence of mind to keep my right hand on the saddle, I pulled my left hand toward Toothless's head, opening the tail fin. Immediately, Toothless straightened his flight out and angled upward, moving toward the sky. He turned toward the lake. I pulled upward with the twine, but the angle between my arm and the fin was too shallow. I wrenched upwards, yanking the tailfin too steeply, which made Toothless panic, dropping me off the saddle and into the water. I didn't skip this time around, thankfully. That last time was painful.

Toothless skidded harmlessly into the water. He clambered out, shook himself off and glared at me for ruining his flight. Again.

I climbed out of the lake and slowly made my way over to Toothless. He was still glaring at me, growling softly. To me, it sounded like he was more irritated than angry, but I wasn't going to question the irritation or anger of a dragon that could blow me to bits in less than a second.

"Heh…sorry, Toothless," I said cautiously. I shuffled up in front of Toothless and slowly put my hand out in front of his face, like I did that first time with him. Slowly, his growling subsided, and he muzzled into my hand for a few seconds, eyes closed. Toothless pulled back, opened his eyes and looked at me. Motioned with his head toward the saddle that he had reluctantly accepted. He wanted to try it again.

Okay, this was going to be lots of trial and error for the next few attempts. I knew I was going to hurt my shoulder if I kept working Toothless's tail fin with my arm. Even if I made the length as short as I possibly could, his tail was still too long to get a good angle on it. It would be even more problematic if he was turning, which would shorten the distance between his tail and my arm, but would also give the line some slack. If I could just make the length even shorter…

Aha! Tie the twine around my left ankle. That was it. I cautiously walked over to Toothless's side and bent down, tying the rope around my ankle. He bent down, waiting for me to get back on the saddle.

This time was even worse. I had said trial and error, but it felt like error and error. My leg had even worse range of motion than my arm, and I could barely open Toothless's tail fin. We dropped over the lake again, me falling in and him skidding across the water as usual. Both of us clambered out. Toothless looked angry or irritated again, while I just looked dejected. How was I going to control Toothless in flight? I didn't just make a saddle for him for nothing. With no way to control him, the saddle was a complete waste.

I walked over to Toothless again, where his growling stopped a little quicker this time. He looked pleadingly at me, seeming to implore me to get him airborne for more than ten seconds.

"I'm sorry," I said to him, rubbing the top of his head as he purred. "I'm out of ideas right now."

Toothless pulled away from me suddenly, and began trying to scratch an itch underneath his saddle with his back leg, like a cat or dog would do. I walked up to him and realized I'd have to disconnect the leather straps underneath his front legs, which might anger him. Or he could just have that itch for life, which would definitely make him angry. That wouldn't make us friends very quickly.

Haltingly, I bent down and began working the leather straps open, finding they had ridden up on Toothless from the water. They'd have to be treated for water before long. I figured I could do that when I got an idea of how to control his flight. Toothless seemed to realize what I was doing, because he stopped and waited for me. I got the straps open and slid the saddle off of his back, where he went to work, twisting his back and trying to reach what was probably an unreachable spot. Just like when I try to scratch in between my shoulder blades. It just doesn't work.

I put my hand on the side of Toothless's neck and walked over to his front leg, telling him by touching him where I was. He stopped scratching and made a short grunt, asking me to get that area, probably irritated by the saddle.

Fingernails armed, I dug in, scratching deep into his skin. I hadn't noticed until now that Toothless wasn't truly scaly, like most reptiles. His skin was more like hard leather, so no chance of me cutting myself, thankfully.

I must have gotten just the right spot on him, because he shut his eyes and pushed up into my fingers, murring happily as my fingernails did their work. I smiled, knowing if I couldn't get Toothless airborne today, I could at least stop a wicked itch.

Toothless was making me feel better with his purring sound, because I felt like he accepted me a little more as I worked over his back, just behind his neck. I felt like he seemed to enjoy my company a little more today than yesterday. I was so glad I met him a few days ago. Even if he roared at me in revenge that very first day. My goal was to be his best friend by the time my father got back. I'd figure out what to do about revealing him later.

I kept working with my fingernails, my left arm moving underneath his chin. I didn't realize I had started scratching Toothless under his chin until he seized up, grunted and collapsed on the ground in satisfaction. I just looked at my hands, thinking I had done something horrible to him. He was just laying there on his frontside, purring. Smiling. In content. Because of something I did for him. "Whoa," I whispered.

I crouched down next to him and put a hand on the side of his head. He opened his eyes, which were massively round, signaling content. And gave a deep sigh. I made Toothless happy, even though we couldn't fly today. How cool. I stroked the side of his head, making him rumble again. I thought he was adorable like that. A Night Fury, perfect as a pet. I laughed a little on the inside.

Sitting down next to Toothless, I continually stroked his head and the back of his neck gently, waiting for him to decide he had enough contact time with me today. But he never moved, other than shifting his position a little every now and then. So that I could stroke a different part of his neck. Or his upper back. Simply put, Toothless was perfectly content to stay next to me for a while.

I looked at the sky. The sun was on a downward track, telling me it was sometime in the afternoon. Past lunchtime, but I didn't care. Toothless was still just lying there, soaking up the sun and being happy in general with my attention. I heard him exhaling every few seconds, sounding like the bellows in the armory. The combination of bright sunshine and a happy Night Fury made me drowsy, so I relaxed against Toothless's side and was asleep before I knew it. We didn't fly, but we were happy anyway.

* * *

Toothless woke me up. He was rumbling gently and licking me on the side of the face. Telling me to get up. "Hmgr?" I mumbled. Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw streaks of red and orange painting the sky. Sunset. Time to get back to Berk. Toothless must have figured out I wasn't going to be around him at night and was probably telling me that I had better get back home before anyone got suspicious. He continued licking my face until I was totally awake. I looked at him, noticing his eyes were round and his ear flaps were raised. A content dragon.

I stroked his head and the back of his neck again, saying, "Thanks, Toothless." He blinked.

I slowly got to my feet, stretched and started toward the entrance to the cove, which also doubled as an exit. See, calling it an entrance only told half the story.

I heard a short, raspy bark from behind me. Turned around. Toothless was sitting there, staring at me with those big, round eyes. He was sitting next to his saddle, switching his gaze between me and the saddle. Telling me I needed to fix it so he could fly. For real.

"You got it, Toothless," I told him with a wry smile. "I'll get your saddle fixed for tomorrow. And I'll bring breakfast." I scratched the side of his head gently and picked up the saddle and basket, which had been void of fish all day. Luckily, we had several of these baskets, so one missing wasn't going to make anyone wonder. Before I headed to the exit, I looked at Toothless again. He was looking back at me. I had just fallen asleep next to a dragon, and he never did anything to hurt me. Man, all this mumbo-jumbo we were being taught was so wrong it was ridiculous. I wondered for a little bit how I was going to show the rest of Berk dragons might not be so bad, but thought better of it. They'd never believe me. I was Hiccup after all.

I started walking toward the exit, Toothless loping along beside me, just happy to be around me. I had that warm, fuzzy feeling again, thinking I had really hit it off with a dragon. And I wasn't going to turn back. Ever. Before I climbed the rocks to leave the cove, I turned back to Toothless and rubbed the side of his head again. "See you tomorrow, Toothless." He gave a short _whuff_ and went on his way. I left without another word.

I couldn't wait for dragon training to be over with, so that I could visit Toothless again. With an improved saddle.

* * *

I snuck back into the armory just as night was falling. Nobody saw me with a bizarre-looking saddle that would never fit any horse. I crept into the armory, noticing Gobber had already left for the night. I wasn't going to eat supper tonight. My goal was to get the saddle done.

I walked back into my drawing room and sat down in front of a blank sheet of parchment. I had a pencil ready, but I wasn't going to draw anything yet. In the upper left-hand corner, I wrote the word "SIMPLE" in all caps. Underneath it, I began listing ideas that would work on the saddle. I knew a range of motion, like what I had tried with my arm and leg, was never going to work. The first idea I listed was "discrete positions." This described that I wanted Toothless's tail fin to work, but I could limit it to moving to a few preset positions. I also wrote the question, "How to control?" It would have to be some kind of notched setup, some kind of ratchet that would catch in certain positions. Kinda like the locks on the doors to the dragon pens. You could have them partially open because of the ratchets that would catch if you accidentally dropped the cable.

Controlling Toothless's tail fin would require some kind of leading cable from the fin to the saddle. Next to my question, I wrote, "HAND, FOOT." I was trying to imagine different ways of controlling the tail fin. I put the pencil down and held my arms in front of me, like I was on Toothless's back again. I mimed adjusting the ratchet with my left hand, tweaking my wrist in several different directions. I had five different movements: neutral, up, down, left and right. That should have been enough.

But if we were flying and I had to think quickly and hold on at the same time, a hand-cranked ratchet was never going to work. I couldn't hold on with my right hand for dear life and keep a light grip with my left. I crossed out the word "HAND." That left "FOOT." I looked down and mimed working my left foot in several different directions. I had neutral, toe-down, toe-up, right tilt and left tilt. I didn't want any degrees of tilt in my foot. I just wanted one position of my foot to adjust the tail fin to exactly one position.

I thought about Toothless in flight. About what his tail fin needed to do. Lay flat, tilt up, tilt down, fold in, spread out. Pretty simple. Five foot positions, five fin positions. Ready for business. I circled the word "FOOT."

Before improving the saddle for functionality, I added two little features. The first was two hooks. I could attach my belt or design a flying vest that wasn't fur-coated. If I attached the vest to his saddle, that would help in keeping me on Toothless's back while he flew around. And since he was designed for speed, I'd need some help in hanging on. We had several hooks and loops floating around, so that was a quick little five-minute fixer-upper. In five more minutes, I had the second feature: two metal handles to hold at the front of the saddle. No more trying to wedge my fingers between the saddle and Toothless's hide.

Surprisingly, designing the ratchet wasn't so bad. I just had four slots that I could work the latch into and a neutral slot. Filing down the metal was time-consuming, because I had to start with a chunk of scrap iron and work it into shape while it was still hot. Took me five cycles, and by the time I was finished, I just wanted to sleep. But I made a promise to a Night Fury. And I was going to keep it.

I made a double loop combination to keep the stirrup locked to the control line for the fin. I couldn't afford a hook-loop combination here. If it came out while flying, we were gonna be dead. I made several thirty-foot long control lines that were essentially long, thin wires. Using a handheld winch I had designed last year, I wound them together to make a cable about an inch in diameter. Nobody, including Gobber, had figured out that cables were way better than just a single thick piece of wire. I grinned, thinking I was a genius to finally apply a cable for something practical. I grabbed another loop to fit the tail fin when I got back to Toothless. I had intentionally made the control line too long so that I could cut it down to size. It had to be perfect, or it wouldn't work. I stowed everything in my drawing room so that I could get it later today. Looking out the armory vista, I noticed the full moon was well past the mountain on the other side of Berk. Directly over the mountain was midnight this time of year. I sighed, knowing it was going to be another low-on-sleep day until I could get to Toothless. Then we'd try flying again and I'd probably end up falling asleep next to him. Again. I shrugged, happily accepting _that_ outcome.

I went home and got a little bit of sleep before morning found me.


	7. Chapter 7

"HICCUP, GET UP! We've got dragon training now!"

I opened my eyes and saw a blurry Astrid standing over me. "Mm. Can I get back to sleep?"

"NOW!" she yelled. To drive her point home, she shoved me out of my bed. I landed on the ground with a _thud_.

"Rrrgh! I'm up! I'm up!" I slowly got to my feet and checked to make sure I had no broken bones. None, although a few bruises were gonna show up soon.

"Gobber's been waiting for you. Hurry up." I heard her footsteps clunk out of my house.

I sighed, knowing today would be difficult because of how late I had stayed up last night. A couple hours of sleep was never going to get the job done here. But I had no choice. After nearly tripping down the stairs, and hearing the fifth step explode underneath my foot, I was awake enough to make my way to the arena. No breakfast, because I was already late.

Gobber had set up the arena with several small wooden walls peppering the ground, like temporary bunkers to hide behind. I was last to trudge into the arena, trying my hardest not to drag my feet.

"What took you so long, Hiccup?" he asked.

Before I could say anything, Astrid said, "Hiccup doesn't want to be here." I didn't say anything back. No need to, because she was actually correct.

"Well, if you prefer receiving a fireball, then be my guest," Gobber said. We all just stood, waiting for Gobber to say something. Eventually, he instructed, "Okay, everyone get behind a wall!" And waited for a little bit. And waited some more. I was about to stand up and ask him what was taking so long when he added, "You also need to find your _own_ wall!" The twins were bickering again over who would claim ownership of the all-important wall. Eventually, Ruffnut got shoved out from behind the wall and grumbled all the way to her own wall, six feet away from her brother's. She glared at him while Gobber started a brief lecture.

"Last time, you had a maze to help you with the Nadder. In a real dragon raid, you don't get that luxury. Let's see if you have learned anything about attacking!" He shoved the lever down, releasing the bole holding a door shut. The door slammed open and the same Deadly Nadder Astrid clobbered a few days back came rushing out.

I was slumping against my wall, trying to fight sleep. After last night, I realized living this double life was going to be taxing. But I had no choice. Toothless was a secret to everyone except me and him.

"HICCUP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Gobber shouted at me. I jumped, colliding with my wall and nearly making it topple. I grabbed the top of it and held it steady. Gobber's screaming at me helped to clear my senses for at least a few minutes. I heard the Nadder blast fire at someone, but didn't look. Snotlout yelled in fear as his shield caught fire. Before the dragon could blast him, Astrid yelled a battle cry and clonked the dragon in the head with a hammer she had picked up. The dragon snarled and took off after her. "Snotlout! You're done!" Gobber shouted across the ring.

The dragon spewed fire at Astrid as she grunted and ducked behind a different wall than where she started. And she stayed there. The dragon warbled and cackled, looking for someone to maim.

"HICCUP! WAKE UP!" Gobber shouted again.

This time, I shot straight into the air, standing ramrod straight. The dragon saw me. "Crud," I mumbled under my breath. "Let's just get this over with."

I stood there, looking the Nadder in the eyes as it approached me at full tilt. But I didn't back down, probably because I was too tired to react. It stopped and made a cackling noise. After observing Toothless, I thought the dragon might have been more interested in checking me out, rather than blasting me with fire. But I wasn't going to find out. Astrid wouldn't let me.

About thirty feet on the other side of the dragon, Astrid leapt up yelling, "HYEEEAH!" with her axe raised. She was going to kill this poor creature. I had to do something about it.

The only thing my mind could think of was what Toothless did after I took his saddle off yesterday. I scratched him under his chin and he melted in content. I stole one look at the Deadly Nadder, who was still looking me over, and began scratching it on the side of its neck. I must have done something right, because I saw the dragon's eyes lose focus. Astrid was still out for blood, so I had to move quickly. I snuck my left hand under the Nadder's chin and scratched.

The dragon seized up, grunted and collapsed in a heap and sighed, warbling softly. I saw Astrid with her axe still raised, looking at the dragon in disbelief. Then her eyes found me standing on the other side of the happy Nadder, wide like the bowls we use for supper. She couldn't believe it. A second ago, she was mere feet from lopping this dragon's head off, and then it just collapsed?

The dragon continued to mumble in contentment as Astrid slowly shuffled away, trying to figure out what happened to her. I smirked a little, trying to hide the fact that I was dead-tired. I just wanted to go visit Toothless again, so that I could get some sleep.

"Uhh, right," Gobber said after an awkward silence. "Looks like we're done for today. Meet back in front of the armory tomorrow, same time, everyone." I sighed in relief and made my way toward the exit trying my hardest not to drag my feet.

"All right, Hiccup, start talking," Astrid said to me in full earshot of everyone else as we were leaving the arena. "What did you do?"

"I, uh, stopped the Nadder from attacking me. Why?"

"But how?"

"I dunno," I said, trying to stifle a yawn. "Maybe it had enough sense to back down?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she said. She and the other trainees left me to trudge my way back home. I slowed my pace down so that I could stop by the armory and get Toothless's stuff. I watched as the other teens went their separate ways, not really bothering me. _Good_, I thought. I dashed into the armory and grabbed the saddle, cable and a few strings of leather along with a basket and wire shears. My next stop was the great hall, as I somehow remembered in my stupor to get some fish for Toothless.

Laden with gear, I tried to make my way to the cove quickly without attracting any attention. I got to the cove barely awake and tried to walk into the entrance. And promptly collided with that darn shield. The impact was enough to wake me up for just a little bit as I slithered underneath the shield with all of my gear and somehow found my way down to the bottom of the cove without tumbling.

Toothless was already there, waiting for me. Ready to go flying. But I couldn't do anything. "H-hey, Toothless," I said quietly. "Here's your fish." I tipped the basket over, forgetting to remove the shears and leather. Toothless saw them fall out and looked at me inquisitively before I realized what was going on. "Mm. Sorry," I said. I removed the gear that had mixed itself with the fish and sat down. I didn't even watch Toothless eat. I was just too tired to do anything. Except sleep.

Toothless must have picked up on me being tired, because after finishing his meal, he loped over to me and licked me in the face a few times before giving a short, raspy bark. Kinda like last night.

"Mmm. Hey, Toothless," I said stupidly. I had been trying to stay awake so hard that I had forgotten what Toothless wanted. He licked me again and rumbled, trying to wake me up for something, but I just couldn't do it. What was that something? Oh, right. Flying. Too tired. I started to lean to my left without realizing it. By the time I was gonna hit the ground, I knew I would be asleep.

Toothless immediately crouched down under me, and I ended up with my back against the left side of his neck. I was too tired to say anything, so I just sighed in contentment. Toothless licked the side of my face again as I fell asleep. I only hoped we'd have at least some time to try flying before the day was through.

* * *

I woke up, feeling refreshed. Way better than what I had felt like when I had first gotten here today. I looked up and saw the sun was high overhead. _Could this be tomorrow?_ I wondered. I stirred, realizing I was sitting on the ground, leaning against Toothless, who was sleeping lightly. I listened to him breathe, feeling his heart beat.

I heard Toothless snort and wake up. He shook his head, sending a small vibration through my back. He grunted and stood, forcing me to sit straight up. I stretched and stood, remembering I had conveniently turned dragon training with Gobber into a very short class earlier today. In the cove I had a foggier sense of time, but I figured it was just past noon at the very latest. I had taken a short nap and I was now ready to fly.

"Hey, Toothless. You ready?" I asked, turning to face him. His mouth pulled into a grin and he looked at me in anticipation. I took that as a _yes_.

I put his saddle on with a minimum of fuss and fastened the loops around his front legs. I had forgotten to treat the leather, so I knew it would ride up on Toothless if we crash landed into any water again.

As I climbed onto his back, I had this faint sinking feeling that I had forgotten something important. I couldn't tell what it was, but I knew it would come to me soon. Oh, well.

Toothless hunkered down and took off as I held onto the saddle, ready this time. As his feet left the ground, everything moved in slow motion because I remembered what it was. I had forgotten to attach the tail fin to the saddle. Oops. As usual, the first few wingbeats were good and then it all went wrong. Toothless had a little more air this time, probably because the tail fin was somewhat open during his flight. He had gotten us out of the cove and was heading in a direction I didn't want him to go.

Toward Berk. I wasn't sure if he knew Berk was this way, but I hoped the tail fin would bring us down. And quickly.

It did. Toothless made a noise between a squawk and a grunt as he plummeted down into a field of garlic grass. The landing was soft enough for me to stumble about five steps forward as Toothless hit the ground. I emerged just outside of the little field and turned back to see if Toothless was okay. And if he was up for flying again. Well, he didn't have a choice because all my gear was inside our little cove.

As I parted the chest-high grass, I heard Toothless grunting and snorting as he rolled around in the grass, apparently enthralled by its scent. I knew we had several meadows of garlic grass around Berk, but I had never seen a dragon near one during a raid. Maybe this was why. Toothless was pretty much overwhelmed in pleasure as he rubbed around in the grass, trying to inhale as much of its scent as he could. I had walked through garlic grass several times and had never thought anything of it. I actually tried to stay away from it because I was always itchy later on.

But seeing Toothless happy like this was amazing, especially after another failed flight. Watching him frolic gave me another idea. A new "weapon" for dragon training. I already had scary things like eels and scratching under chins. Now I had one more. Garlic grass. I made a mental note to head here tomorrow right before dragon training.

I waited for Toothless to come down off his high before we made the return flight back to the cove. This was probably going to hurt, but I didn't know how else to get him back down there. If I left him here to get my stuff, there was no telling what could happen to him. He could wander off in search of more grass or a Viking not named Hiccup could find him. That wouldn't end well. The best solution I could think of was to crash-land in the cove to get the rest of my little contraption put together.

Toothless stood and shook himself off before looking at me with those deep yellow-green eyes. I took one step toward him when his eyes lost focus. He squinted slightly and drew in a sharp breath through his nose. By the time I realized what he was doing, it was too late. Toothless sneezed through his nose, covering my front side in a fine spray of droplets. He looked at me again, as if nothing had happened. I stood there in shock, grateful he didn't sneeze anything more dangerous, like a fireball. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and said, "C'mon, Toothless, let's get back to the cove." I tried to steer him back to where we came from. It was difficult because I was doing my best to hide my impatience from him, as I could think of nothing except washing dragon snot off. I walked him to the edge of the cove, which was surrounded by trees and boulders. I thought it was a very convenient disguise, as no one else but me and Toothless knew about this place.

Toothless waited for me to get on his back and then jumped to the top of the boulders without really flying. He was apparently smart enough to know that he couldn't fly yet. He then jumped back into the cove, gliding to a rough landing, but otherwise unhurt.

I ran over to the stream and tried to wash off the spray from Toothless as best as I could. Not all of it would come off, but I figured it was better than doing nothing. And I knew doing nothing about it would probably draw the suspicion of just about any Viking nearby.

"All right, Toothless, let's get this done," I said as I stood up from washing my face and clothes. I ambled over to the shears, cable and leather. Toothless loped with me, giddy with excitement.

The first thing I did was attach the cable to my foothold. I had already designed the control mechanism, so all it needed was a connection to the tail fin. Toothless just watched me, making the occasional curious sound. I straightened his tail a little bit so that the cable would be at its maximum length, making it easier for Toothless to turn while in flight and on the ground. I had observed that his tail was extremely active, if only moving up and down while pumping his wings. The cable was about five feet too long, so I clipped the excess off with the shears and tried to attach the cable by hand. I got it on the loop, but when Toothless moved his tail experimentally, the cable buckled slightly. It was still too long. I grabbed the shears again and clipped off another small section. Reattached it. Still buckling. I cut off yet another segment and kept trying to figure out how to keep the cable in a line with Toothless's side. I just couldn't figure it out.

By the time I had finished, I was out of breath, and my hands had a humongous gash running straight across from a mishap with the cable. I had tried to attach it for the umpteenth time when it slipped and dragged a jagged edge across my closed hands, making me yell in pain. I tried to flex my hands, but the pain was almost unbearable. I groaned weakly, trying to convince my audience of a Night Fury that I could stand an injury.

But I had a larger problem. The cable was resting directly on Toothless's front left leg. It would cut through his skin in no time if we tried flying. There was no way I would be dumb enough to let Toothless take to the air with this problem. He'd be in pain and he'd know that it would be my fault. Sounded like a recipe for a fireball in my direction. Not just a sneeze.

"Oh, man," I said under my breath. "Toothless, I'm sorry. I can't let you fly like this." Toothless just looked at me. He murmured softly and closed his eyes as he rubbed his head into my arm. I just stood there, cursing all these little problems that cropped up in trying to get Toothless airborne. I felt really bad for him, trying so hard to help him fly again, only to run into yet another snag. Dejected, I sat down and hung my head.

Toothless curled up beside me and found my right palm was still bleeding. He sniffed at it and licked it gently. I didn't feel any pain, but I wasn't sure if dragon saliva was going to help my hands heal any faster. I just let him go until he was satisfied, trying to keep my left hand hidden from him. But he found it anyway and swiped his tongue at my closed left hand. _Oh well, what the heck_, I thought. I opened my hand and let him lick my left hand until he was finished. I noticed that the bleeding stopped much more quickly than normal after Toothless had found my hands.

Eventually Toothless stopped and looked at me with those big, round eyes. Without thinking, I wrapped his neck in a hug and said, "I'm sorry, Toothless. I'm trying so hard, and I can't get it right." I heard him breathe, sounding like the bellows in the armory. I felt his heart beating, yearning for more time in the air, but I couldn't let him. He seemed to know it too. Toothless just let me hug him until I was ready to go. I was frustrated that I couldn't figure out what I needed to do, but my goal was to get him back in the air for more than ten seconds.

I let go of Toothless, who just looked at me. I shuffled over to his tail. Unwinding the cable was surprisingly easy, as I remembered I didn't have any kind of tool to tighten it. I disconnected the cable from the foothold and slowly removed the saddle from Toothless's back. I set it down on the ground next to him and pulled out my notebook with the pencil inside. I found a blank page and wrote, "Design guide slot for cable. Bring winch to secure cable. Test flight while attached to stationary object." I wanted to do all of this by the end of tomorrow.

I gathered all of the materials I needed and placed the saddle, shears and leather back in the basket. I'd have to carry the cable by hand.

"Okay, Toothless," I told him. "We're flying tomorrow. I promise." He just looked at me, wondering why he couldn't be airborne today. Begging me to fly today. I wished just this once, these problems could fix themselves and we'd be in the air.

I reached out to touch the side of his head, but Toothless backed away, grunted and loped off in irritation. My hand fell down by my side, and I shuffled back to the opening in the cove wall, looking down. I sighed as I ducked under the shield that was still lodged in the entrance. I was impatient, hoping the improvements to the saddle and tail fin would go more quickly. Maybe tonight I could get it all sorted out. And get Toothless in the air tomorrow.

* * *

_Day four,_ I thought as I dropped my supplies in my little office. _Ten days left, if that_. I sat down at my drawing board and stared at it. I had been working like a maniac, trying to get Toothless back into the air. Where he belonged. And I was doing this…because I could? No, that wasn't right. It ran deeper than that. I just didn't know why.

I sighed as I put my head in my hands and tried to mull it over. There was no answer at the moment. But something didn't feel right about all this. I pulled my head back and looked at my hands. _That_ was what was missing. I couldn't feel any pain in my hands from what the cable had done to them. All thanks to Toothless. I smiled a little bit, thinking he could do anything.

Eventually, I stood up and decided to get the improvements done on the saddle. No more wondering. I walked back into the armory. Gobber had already gone home for the evening, so it was just me again. Time to set up shop.

The guide slot was easy to build. I fashioned a reasonably thick guide tube out of cast iron and attached it on the outside of the loop that wrapped around Toothless's leg. I made it strong enough to keep from deforming when the cable ran back and forth through it. But more importantly, Toothless would be able to keep the skin on his left front leg.

Thirty minutes. A record for building stuff for a dragon. I just felt the tube wasn't enough. Other nights stretched on and on. There were those two nights when I was in the armory for until what seemed like the next daybreak, and now it just didn't seem right I was done so quickly. I looked around for something else to make. My eyes wandered from object to object, trying to come up with something useful. After a couple of minutes, they eventually settled on a large, unbroken sheet of leather. My mind raced, trying to think of some use for the leather that was currently collecting dust. How about a flight vest? Something more aerodynamic than a fur-lined vest that I always wore. Easy.

Thirty minutes later, I had a flight vest made out of leather. It held itself together in front of my breastbone. The four straps coming from the sides all met in the middle, so I just sewed them together. I could put the vest on like a shirt. I cut out strips from the unused portions of the leather sheet and braided them together. I also fashioned metal hooks and secured them to the front of the saddle. Made loops and outfitted both ends of the two braided straps. Finally, I made hooks that went onto the sides of my vest. I hung the saddle on the wall and hooked up using the newfangled straps. Perfect. I grinned, knowing I had a little extra measure of security while Toothless was flying.

I stowed everything in my little office, extinguished the main lantern in the armory, closed the front vista and left. Looked back. I had never seen the armory from this point of view before. Even though it was shut, there was a little sliver of orange light peeking out from the gap between the vista and its shutters. The heating coals. We never let them get too cold because it was difficult to get the heat chamber back up and running. I thought it was curious that the armory had been my second home, and yet, I never really paid attention to it. I continued looking for a few more seconds and then turned toward home.

I walked upstairs, avoiding the fifth step as usual, and washed off. Crawled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up early. Walked over to the great hall like it was just another standard day in Berk. I passed only a few villagers, mainly because it was too early for most people to be up right now. One of them stopped me and looked me in the eye. My mind froze, trying to think of who he was. Couldn't place it. I knew several people in Berk called "What's-His-Name."

"Hiccup! I've heard great things about you," he started. My mind snapped, remembering his name: Ack. Now what was his family name?

"Uh, thanks," I said.

Before I could say anything else, he continued, "I'll be watching the dragon class today. Sounds like it's been exciting for the past few days."

"Oh. Uh, yeah. It has," I said. I was trying my hardest to make this conversation not awkward, but it wasn't working. "Um, thanks for your support."

"Sure, sure. Go knock 'em dead today," he concluded with a small fist pump.

I watched him stride away. Turned around and proceeded up the steps to the great hall. I ate a quick breakfast, remembering I had to run an errand before dragon training.

I raced out of the great hall after my meal and found a patch of garlic grass. Walked in and took a deep breath. I was wondering why dragons were so affected by this stuff. I looked around, seeing the same small meadow of waist-high grass. No effect, no distortion. I sneezed, recalling I was going to be itchy for the rest of the day. Great. Well, since I was already here, I grabbed a handful of grass and stuffed it into my fur-lined vest. And headed to the arena.

I trudged into the arena slightly behind the rest of the teens. There were a few more villagers hovering around the arena, including our town elder named Gothi, a diminutive old lady who rarely, if ever, said anything. I only saw her every now and then few times hobbling around Berk with her walking staff and never said anything to her. She seemed pretty intent on watching how dragon training would play out today.

I heard a murmur roll through the outside of the arena when I entered. They must have heard about the legendary Hiccup, the one who could (humanely) vanquish any dragon he looked at. I looked around at the crowd, who were all intently staring at the events unfolding within the arena.

As I walked in, the garlic grass started working, and I don't mean it was working on the dragon. My chest was beginning to itch. It took all of my mental strength to keep from scratching, because I knew that would only make it worse. And it would look suspicious. I could only hope I could make dragon training go quickly today.

Gobber had set up the arena similar to yesterday, where he had a few walls peppered throughout the arena. He instructed us to hide behind a wall, but gave no inkling about the dragon we would face today. Also today, the twins weren't bickering about ownership of one particular wall. Thankfully.

The ratchet clicked open and the bole slid out from the double door, where a dragon crashed out. I heard a raspy snarl, which could only mean one thing: the Gronckle. It immediately spied Snotlout, who was lining up a mace to throw and blasted a fireball at his feet. Snotlout yelled and jumped out of the way.

"Snotlout, you're done!" Gobber shouted.

"I AM NOT OUT YET!" he screamed back. "That fireball wasn't even close!" Well, the next one was, because his shield splintered in his hand.

Gobber rolled his eyes and said, "Now, you're out."

Tuffnut had snuck up behind the dragon when it wheeled around. Instead of launching a fireball, it headbutted him and flew off to find someone else to torture.

I was standing stock-still in front of my wall, leaning against it with my elbow on the top of the wall. But instead of being tired, I was just watching the show. And still itching. I figured I had at least a small handle on how to deal with the dragons, so I had progressed to trying different ideas during training, like staying still. Today, I was wondering how dragons noticed things. If it was through movement, then the Gronckle wouldn't have any idea that I was around.

"HICCUP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Gobber shouted across the arena. "Get down! Have you learned _anything_ here?" I didn't even look at him. I had a plan.

_Crud,_ I thought. It was a flawed plan. Garlic grass. Because if the dragon smelled me, it would come racing over.

I watched the Gronckle blast a fireball at Astrid as she jumped out of the way, hunkering behind a wall. Three shots down, three to go.

The Gronckle turned to its right and glanced in my direction. It looked at me for a second and then turned its attention elsewhere. As soon as it had turned back, it saw Ruffnut jump across a gap between walls. I had my answer: Gronckles used movement to see. I knew Toothless could see me even if I wasn't moving, but I wasn't sure about species of dragons besides Gronckles and Night Furies. There was only one way to find out, right?

"HICCUP, WOULD YOU _PLEASE_ PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I'M TELLING YOU!?" Gobber shouted.

I turned to him and said, "What if I'm trying something?"

Gobber shouted, "HICCUP!" and pointed urgently at something behind me. He did this at the exact same time as I heard a hoarse snarl. The Gronckle had seen me. Oh, well. I used the cover of my arm resting on the wall to surreptitiously pull out the garlic grass and hide it behind my axe.

I casually turned back to the Gronckle, who was just starting to head in my direction. I saw an intent to hurt in its eyes. It was really tempting to think I was in huge trouble because Gronckles are large creatures, even though I was pretty sure that nothing would happen to me today. I dropped my axe and held the handful of garlic grass out in front of me, not caring if anybody saw my little magic trick. The dragon landed and immediately began sniffing at my hand. I watched as the Gronckle kept smelling, and then rubbed the garlic grass against its snout. The Gronckle relaxed and happily fell over onto its side. Looking at it laying down like this, I noticed just how big this creature was. Even standing at full height, I was still shorter than the Gronckle was from side-to-side. But regardless of the dragon's size, I had figured out yet another way to render them harmless. All this time with Toothless was starting to really pay off.

"Hiccup! How did you DO that!?" Ruffnut screamed in excitement.

I just looked at her, smirked and shrugged. My little secret wasn't getting out anytime soon.

Gobber lumbered over in my direction and grumbled, "Hiccup, I don't know what you're on, but nobody is learning anything here. You had better find a way to help everyone else here besides yourself." He glared at me, making sure I understood the message. I just looked back at him blankly. "All right," he said. "You can go back home today." We left.

On the way out of the arena, Snotlout perked up and exclaimed, "I've _never_ seen a Gronckle do that before! How did you make it do that?"

Before I could even respond, Fishlegs broke in and said, "Ooh! I think we can update the Gronckle page in the Book of Dragons!" And with that he broke off into a run toward the Great Hall.

As the other teens closed in on me, I came up with an excuse to leave. "Uh, I think I left my axe in the ring. I'll see you guys later." I wheeled around to pick up my axe, colliding into Astrid. She shoved me away and continued walking, frustrated that I had showed her up three times in dragon training so far. And I wasn't planning on stopping there.

I went back into the arena and grabbed my axe. And scratched because the itching was unbearable. I walked out of the arena before anyone noticed, dropping the garlic grass near the wall at the entrance to the arena. My next stop was the armory to retrieve the saddle, cable and a basket for fish. I had taken a step outside of the armory when I remembered the winch I needed for the cable. Today was going to be the third time I got to use it after making the cable last night. The first time was while I was building Mangler. After getting my supplies, I slinked around the back of the great hall to fill the basket, but a surprise met me there.

No fish.

"Hiccup," a voice said behind me. I jumped and whirled around to find a Viking lady named Phlegma the Fierce. She was pretty much like Astrid except in full-grown form, a tomboy who could probably beat most of the men here in a strength contest. "Someone has been sneaking off with the fish we keep back here. If you need some extra fish, you'll have to ask for them in the great hall. And if you do find who or what is taking them, let me know." She walked off.

I just stood there in shock. I had a basket and saddle that wouldn't fit any horse in Berk in full view, and Phlegma did absolutely nothing about it. She even seemed nonchalant about the whole "stealing fish" ordeal. If she would have thought through it, she'd have been able to put two and two together. I breathed a sigh of relief that I didn't get caught, but I had another problem. How was I going to get fish for Toothless? I could try to catch some, but that would be an arduously slow process. I'd have to figure something out soon, but for now, I had to see if flying would actually work today. I put the saddle in the basket and started on my way to the cove.

Every step I took on my path brought more of a smile to my face. Today was the day that all the little kinks would be worked out. All I had to do was get the saddle onto Toothless's back. As I got closer to the cove, I could feel the destiny in the air. We were going on an exhilarating adventure today, and there was nothing that could stop us. I ducked under the shield silently guarding the entrance to the cove and looked down toward the bottom. Ready. I almost danced my way down to the bottom of the cove and called, "Hey, Toooooooothless."

Nothing happened. "Toothless?" No Night Fury, no yellow-green eyes. "Toothless, where are you?"

This wasn't normal at all. Even on that day I didn't think to bring fish, Toothless came right up to me, ready for the day's adventures. Even if they were doomed to fail. My mind started whirring through the possibilities.

Maybe he escaped and ran away.

Maybe someone found him.

I cautiously made my way deeper into the cove, hoping to find him waiting for me somewhere. Maybe he was playing a little game with me, like hide-and-seek.

There was a small outcropping of rocks in one corner of the cove, clear on the other side of where I had first met him with a fish he regurgitated as a gift. It was about as far away from the entrance as you could get. Something just didn't seem right in this area. My nose wrinkled in distaste because I smelled something…different. It was sour, almost rotten. As I got closer, the smell intensified. _This can't be good_, I thought. Something was definitely wrong here. I slowly peeked around the largest rock, afraid of what might be on the other side.

A wave of rancid air hit me around that rock, and I found a black form lying motionless in the grass.

"Oh, no," I mumbled. I covered my mouth and nose with my shirt, trying to block out the smell as I edged closer to the Night Fury in front of me.

Toothless was dead.

Someone had found him and killed him between yesterday afternoon and now. Flies were buzzing around his carcass as it was rotting. I just stood there in shock. I had no idea what to do. Should I tell someone? If I went back to Berk, would anyone confess that they killed him? Or would they just laugh it up? I slowly staggered back to the opening in the cove with tears in my eyes, forgetting about the basket next to Toothless. I thought about when I would have to come back and bury him.

I had gotten about ten feet away when the black shape hitched and made a gagging sound. Toothless raised his head slightly and vomited a clear liquid with a reddish tint into an already standing pool of stomach contents. The flies buzzed around him before settling back down and resuming their meal.

"Oh, no," I said again. Toothless wasn't dead, but seeing a violently ill Night Fury in front of me didn't do anything to help my state of mind. I strode back over to him, unmindful of the smell and knelt by his head. His eyes were closed and his breathing was labored. Toothless had a trail of bile leading from his mouth to the pool of sick in front of him.

Slowly, I stroked the side of his head. He opened his eyes slightly and looked at me. I saw how unfocused he was, like he was staring straight through me. "Hey there, buddy," I whispered gently. He gave a weak groan, barely acknowledging my presence before closing his eyes and putting his head back down. "Toothless, I'm sorry," I said. "I'm so sorry."

Somehow, I had to take care of him. It didn't matter how he had fallen ill. But I couldn't go rushing back to Berk and ask where any medicine for a sick dragon might be. That would get Toothless killed before I could say "dragon training." So what could I do for him? Feeding was definitely out of the question. I didn't think he'd be able to hold any food down for at least today. But maybe he could hold down water. If he had thrown up several times, then I figured he must have been dehydrated. And if he couldn't get up, then he was in serious danger. That was it. I'd go back to the armory and fetch a bucket or two for water. I just hoped he wouldn't die on me within the next hour.

"I'm gonna get you some water, Toothless" I whispered to him. He didn't even respond. I strode toward the entrance of the cove, climbed out and crawled underneath the shield at the entrance/exit. As I made my way toward Berk, I picked up the pace, eventually breaking into a run. When I arrived at the armory, I was completely out of breath.

Gobber noticed me and said, "You look worn out, Hiccup. What are you doing out there?"

I put my hands on my knees and looked around for buckets, not even acknowledging him. We usually kept them in the far corner of the armory, where we could stack them out of the way. As usual, they were exactly where they should have been. I stumbled over to the buckets and grabbed two of them.

"Hiccup, what are you doing? Get started on today's orders." Gobber motioned to the parchment at the front of the armory, which I didn't even look at.

"Gobber, I'm really sorry, but I can't help you today. I have to go _now_." I made for the door with the buckets and was nearly there when Gobber's prosthetic forceps grabbed my vest and pulled me back into the armory.

"No, you don't. You're staying right here. Get to work._ Now_."

"Can I please make it up to you tomorrow? I really can't stay. Really."

Gobber was getting angry with me. "All right, Hiccup! What in Odin's name is going on!? Why do you think you have to leave all of a sudden?"

I couldn't tell him any fragment of the truth. If I even mentioned the word "dragon," Gobber would be on me like black on a Night Fury. "Uh, I don't think you'd believe me even if I did tell you."

"Hiccup, quit hiding this from me! Why are you being so…so…_this_!?" he asked through clenched teeth as he motioned in my general direction.

By this time I had caught most of my wind back. I noticed I was standing between Gobber and the door. In other words, I had a clear exit. "I'll tell you later," I said and bolted out the door with the buckets.

"HICCUP, GET BACK HERE!" he shouted, chasing after me. I knew if I could get at least some separation between him and me, I could get back to the cove without him following. And I had two feet. Gobber had only one. I could run faster than him.

I heard Gobber collide with another Viking milling around Berk, which couldn't have been good. But I wasn't going to turn around. I had to take care of a sick Night Fury. I heard both Gobber and the other Viking shouting after me, but they were distant. As I got into the forest, I took one of the longest routes I knew to the cove entrance, hoping to throw them off.

By the time I was near the entrance, I glanced around, making sure no one saw me. As a general rule, I knew Vikings here on Berk weren't too cunning when chasing something. They never really kept quiet or out of sight. I saw nothing and heard even less, so I ducked quickly underneath the shield, grateful I hadn't gotten rid of it yet. I clambered down to the bottom of the cove and filled the buckets with water. Toothless was still lying there in the same position I had left him. He was still breathing, but it sounded even more labored than it was earlier today.

"Hey there, Toothless. I brought some water for you," I said as I placed the bucket in front of his snout. No response.

Gently, I slid my hand underneath his head, noting that he was burning hot to the touch. _A fever_, I thought. I had to keep him hydrated. He probably wouldn't survive the night without any water. Toothless murmured weakly in discomfort as I lifted his head so that he could drink the water in front of him.

I was thinking like Hiccup would, trying to observe what Toothless was doing. I knew as a general rule fevers start as chills. I had been sick enough in my formative years to realize shivering from sickness meant the onset of fever. Toothless wasn't shaking at all, though. He must have had this fever for a while. If he was anything like me, he was feeling too hot right now.

"Come on, buddy. You can do this," I whispered. His tongue was hanging weakly out of the side of his mouth, so I tried to lower his head to get his tongue into the water. As soon as it touched, Toothless groaned and turned his head so that he could lap up the water. He drank slowly as I held his head up. My muscles were burning from holding Toothless like this. He was large enough for me to ride on him, and all that size translated directly to a lot of weight.

Toothless had taken about three sips when he made a sound and movement that seemed like a cough. He gagged and his stomach sucked in. Hard. Thinking quickly, I got the bucket away from him. For at least the third time today, he brought up a clear liquid. I heard him choking as he forcefully expelled his stomach contents. I closed my eyes before I became too sick myself. "Gross," I muttered. This was really bad. I didn't think it was the water, because he had just barely started drinking. I let him finish hurling and waited for a few seconds as he put his head back down on the ground. Toothless made a weak effort at a groan, eyes shut. His tongue was still hanging weakly out of his mouth, dangerously close to the growing pool of sick. He made a weak motion with his tongue, probably trying to tell me he wanted water.

"Okay, bud. Just don't bring this back up," I pleaded. I lifted his head again, feeling his fever. I felt so helpless because I couldn't just magically heal Toothless. I'd have given just about anything for a miracle cure for him.

Toothless weakly turned his head and began lapping at the water again. He took his time drinking. "That's it. Nice and slow," I said calmly. He finished the bucket off, licking the inside for any more traces of water. Before he could get a splinter in his tongue, I put his head back down and grabbed the other bucket. This one wasn't for him to drink out of. I cupped my hand, gathering a little bit of water and spread it over Toothless's head and neck, trying to cool him off. He groaned weakly in appreciation as the water met his skin. I felt him relax under my hands, knowing I would be here for him until he recovered. Even if it meant skipping work or dragon training.

Eventually, I refilled the first bucket and lifted Toothless's head the same way as before. He cleaned out the bucket again. I kept alternating between cooling his skin and hydrating him. I didn't care if someone found out I wasn't at home tonight. Or if they found me here in the cove with a Night Fury. I was gonna stay by Toothless's side until he recovered. And it didn't matter how long it took, whether it was one night or an entire week. I was gonna look after him.

After a while, Toothless fell asleep. I sat down by his side and kept his skin cool, reassuring him he was gonna be okay. I just hoped no one would find us here. And if anyone did, I hoped they'd understand.

I watched the sun sink below the rim of the cove, hearing the crickets warming up for their nightly summer symphony. Toothless's breathing was still labored with no sign of improvement. I kept him cool through the night, trying to get his body temperature back down. I never left his side, watching as the stars patrolled the sky in their slow nightly round.

Through the night, my mind wandered from place to place like it normally does. It's especially good at wandering during the summer, when I have lots of time to stretch out and do nothing. Sitting next to Toothless, I noticed things. Like the silhouette of the rock wall towering above us. The sound of water trickling by in the stream. I looked up at the stars, trying to find patterns. Constellations. There were the familiar patterns, like the cross I could always count on. Near the rim of the cove was a pattern that looked kinda like the main island of Berk. There were two constellations that looked like spoons, one was facing upward and the other downward. All these were familiar, so I kept scanning the sky when my eyes settled on a pattern I had never seen. It was six stars in a rough circle. It looked like an animal's face of some kind. There were two stars above the circle, maybe forming ears. They were way too high to look realistic, but it didn't matter. Maybe they were ear flaps, like a Night Fury's. Inside the "face" were five stars, two in a near-horizontal line on the left and three in a triangle on the right. It only took a little bit of imagination to see that the Night Fury in the sky was winking. "Toothless, you'd love this," I whispered to him. "There's another Night Fury with us. He's in the sky, watching." Toothless didn't respond, but I didn't mind.

If I would have said this anytime before now, I'd have been embarrassed. Even if nobody was around. But tonight, after seeing that winking Night Fury, I felt more at ease. It felt like I was meant to find that constellation tonight, when Toothless needed me the most. I looked back at him and realized he'd be just fine. The dragon in the stars told me so. I didn't need to worry about him. I refilled the bucket to spread more water on Toothless.

A question popped into my head as I massaged the water onto Toothless's skin. _Why me?_ This question had been in my mind pretty much from that first day I let him go. Tonight, I had plenty of time to sort it out. But really, why was it Hiccup who found this Night Fury? If any of the other Viking teenagers had found him, Toothless would have been dead five days ago. But I was the one who found him first, and I spared his life because of what? Compassion? That was a word that only existed for wannabe Vikings. Like me. It was a weakness here. You don't just let a dangerous animal like a dragon, much less a Night Fury, live because you feel sorry for it. But I did. Why?

The only answer I could come up with at this point was that Toothless was a gift to me. And I didn't realize it until now. No Viking in Berk saw things the way I did. Nobody in Berk saw me like they saw Astrid or Snotlout. People here always saw me with a judgmental scowl, like they were looking through a veil that distorted reality. Toothless saw me without judgment. Without bias. He saw me as Hiccup and accepted me as Hiccup. Nobody had ever done that for me until Toothless came along. He was my reason for waking up every day. He was a gift from the gods to me. If it wasn't the right answer, it would do for now.

I kept Toothless cool with water through the night until I saw dawn's first reds and oranges trickle over the rim of the cove. As quietly as I could, I grabbed the basket and left the cove. I made my way over to the great hall and slipped inside, hoping to get maybe a few fish. I got to the back of the hall and found that my caring for Toothless was rewarded. There were several hundred fish piled up at the back of the great hall, ready for cooking. I filled the basket about halfway with fish and snuck out of the back. I saw only one Viking making a round of the village on my way back toward the cove. He was walking away from me on the lower level of Berk. Safe.

I got back to the cove just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Inside, Toothless hadn't improved much. He was still in the same position on his side, although his breathing told me that he was feeling better. It wasn't as labored anymore. I placed the basket away from him and knelt by his head.

"How are you doing, Toothless?" I whispered. No response. I stroked the side of his head, noting that the fever was still there, although it had abated somewhat. _Good,_ I thought. He's going to live.

I sat down after spreading water on Toothless's side again. My back was propped up against a rock. I heard Toothless breathing rhythmically, sounding like the bellows in the armory. I relaxed and went to sleep, comforted that I had helped Toothless survive the night. My last thought before slipping out of consciousness was if Toothless saw me as a gift to him as well.


	9. Chapter 9

A low groan woke me up. Blearily, I opened my eyes to find Toothless lying on his front with his head raised. He still looked a little frazzled, but it seemed he had gotten through the worst of whatever had stricken him. He stared at me with those big round eyes, waiting.

I sat up, yawned and stretched. "Hey, buddy. How're you feeling today?" He blinked and grunted. I stood and grabbed one of the buckets to refill with water. Brought it back for Toothless, and he eagerly lapped up the contents of the bucket. There were still flies buzzing around us, but I paid them no mind. Looked up, noticing the sun was most of the way through the cove. We had maybe a few hours of daylight left at the most.

I refilled the bucket for Toothless and he emptied it just as quickly as the first time today. "You must be feeling a lot better, bud," I told him. Gingerly, he dragged himself over to me and rubbed his head against my left arm, trying to get underneath my hand. I let him. I rubbed the top of his head, listening to him rumble in contentment, his eyes closed. I felt relieved Toothless was going to be okay. His skin felt like it was back to normal temperature, so that meant the fever was gone. Hopefully for good.

"So, bud," I said animatedly. "I've been thinking about how to fly. I think we can do it today." Toothless looked up with those beautiful yellow-green eyes. No grin, no sound. He just looked up at me.

I stood up and wandered over to the basket and saddle. Held the saddle up so that Toothless could see it. Upon seeing what I had in my hands, he lumbered over to me and sat down on his haunches with a grin on his face. I smiled too, knowing he was going to be just fine.

Toothless let me put his saddle on without asking for food, although I knew I'd have to get him some fish by the end of the day. Well, why not now? I guided Toothless over to the basket and flipped open the lid. He stuck his face into the basket, looking for what was inside. I heard Toothless grunt in excitement as he pulled his head back out with a fish in his mouth. He swallowed it as I tipped the basket over. Toothless ate with relish as I crept around him to thread the cable into the guide tube on his saddle.

I grabbed a bucket and filled it with water. Began washing Toothless's stomach contents into the stream. I didn't want a bunch of flies and other filth colonizing our perfect little cove. It took about ten bucketfuls to get most of the stench into the stream. Good enough for me.

I turned and faced Toothless, who was already finished with his meal. He looked at me, waiting for another adventure. I glanced at his saddle, telling him I was ready to fly. He crouched down almost immediately. I got on and said, "Okay, Toothless. You ready?"

Toothless glanced back at me and took off. Just like the last few times, it felt out-of-control. I wanted him to land somewhere out of the way where we could tether to a fallen tree or stump. But Toothless was excited, I could feel it. I just went along with what Toothless was after, guessing at the fin positions I needed to hit. No such luck. We plummeted from the sky just outside of the cove. Luckily, Toothless was able to salvage a rough landing, preventing any injury.

I immediately climbed off Toothless's back to keep him from trying to fly again and walked him toward a clearing on the north side of Berk. There, I knew the wind was stronger and maybe I could find something useful to keep us near the ground. Toothless kept trying to stop me from walking him, trying to get back into the air, but I would have none of it. "Come on, Toothless." Slowly, he followed with a quiet grumble. He was probably a little frustrated with me, especially after how close we had gotten to staying airborne. We were almost there. No more technical issues. Now I was the one who had to learn to fly.

We were a few steps into the forest when Toothless grunted and bounded about ten feet to my left, pouncing on something. He opened his paws to see if he had caught what he was after. I had no idea what he was on, but he looked slightly disappointed about a miss. He looked at me, seemingly asking what he had just chased. I just stared at him blankly, wondering what was going on. "C'mon, buddy. Let's go," I told him. And turned around. Toothless grunted again, chasing that same something. I saw it right before he pounced. It ended up on his left side.

Toothless was chasing the glare from the hammer I had at my side. It was catching the sunlight, and the bright reflection had snagged Toothless's attention. He turned around, looking around for that elusive reflection. I grinned, covering the hammer with my hand as I walked behind a rock. Playtime.

I uncovered the hammer and shone the reflection about five feet in front of Toothless. He grunted again and gathered himself, like a cat does. Pounced on the reflection. Opened his paws, only to find the reflection from my hammer had moved another eight feet in front of him. Toothless immediately leapt forward, trying his hardest to catch that little bit of light. I couldn't stop giggling at him. This was so much fun, watching him chase a little spot on the ground. All the while Toothless was making a whole array of sounds, ranging from grunts to moans to rumbles. He was happy. I wasn't sure if he knew I was the one manipulating him, but he didn't seem to mind.

I continued guiding Toothless with the light, letting him pounce on it occasionally. I noticed I could get him where we needed to go using this little trick, so I stood up and let the reflection guide him to the promontory that I was after. Within no time, we were there. I figured this was yet another trick I could use for dragon training.

"Great job, Toothless," I said with a huge grin on my face. We were on the other side of the main mountain on the north side of Berk, where there was a fallen tree, just for us. I had a spare strap of leather I wanted to sheath the cable in, but figured I didn't need it anymore. I nailed a stake in the stump and tied the strap around it to keep Toothless tethered against the tree. All I knew was that I needed time to determine what each foot position did for our flight. And this afternoon seemed like the perfect day for this, since we didn't have much time for anything else.

"Okay, bud. Let's figure this out," I said as I climbed onto Toothless's back again and hooked up. He looked at me, wondering what he should do. He knew that he wasn't going to fly anytime soon when he was tied down like this. Before I could say or do anything, a gust of wind picked up, catching under his wings. Toothless spread his wings slightly as he lifted into the air. I checked the foot position. Neutral. The tail fin was extended but not angled. Straight flight.

I had a small sheet of parchment in front of me where I could draw the tail fin positions, the foot positions and what they meant for flight. I put neutral in the top center. Straight.

Toothless was letting the wind keep him airborne as I clicked my left foot to the outside. The tail fin angled downward. Toothless fell gently to the ground, like a leaf. He looked back and grinned at me with a quiet rumble. He thought I was getting the hang of this, but at that moment, flight had become a gigantic mystery to me. Was his tail fin really _that _dynamic during flight? I clicked back to neutral.

A gust picked back up, bringing Toothless airborne again. Clicked forward. The tail fin collapsed inward. Back down. What was going on here? Clicked back to neutral. Airborne. Clicked backward. Spread out. Toothless rose higher in the wind. Okay, that was two out of five I had figured out. Clicking backward meant lifting. I wrote it down without remembering to bring us back down. Suddenly, the leather slipped off the stake and we shot backward into the forest, Toothless coming to rest on his back and I was just off to his left. He rolled over and stood up, bringing me with him. I was still hooked into the saddle, so I reached over and blindly tried to pull my loop free. It wouldn't budge. Looked closer. The hook on the saddle had doubled over, essentially forming a loop.

"Oh, great," I mumbled. I only had a hammer on me, and I knew that would never get the loop open. A steel rod was my only option because the eyelet was too narrow for anything else to fit. There was only one place I could get a rod: the armory. Fantastic.

Toothless shook himself off, sending a slight vibration into my flying vest. He looked at me, wondering what I wanted to do. I looked back at him. "Try again?" I asked, glancing back at the stump. The stake was still there; only the leather had come untied. No big deal. We tethered up again. This time, I made absolutely sure the leather strap wouldn't come untied.

We continued soaking up the wind until sundown. It might not have been real flying, but Toothless certainly seemed to be happier now that he was somewhat airborne. Or maybe it was because I stayed with him last night while he was sick.

"Great job, bud," I said to him as we wound down for the night. I stroked his head, listening to him rumble again. Man, I just _loved_ being around Toothless. He really was the best thing that could have ever happened to me on Berk.

I untied the leather and left the stake there. Vikings almost never ventured in this area, and even if someone did, they probably wouldn't think twice about the stake.

"Come on, buddy," I told him as I guided him toward Berk. "We've gotta get your saddle fixed."

I don't know why I didn't think about this problem differently. I should have just taken the saddle off of Toothless and brought it back with me. Or left my flight vest hanging on his saddle. But the first solution that popped into my head was the one I used. I brought Toothless into Berk with me.

A Night Fury._ In Berk._ This was gonna be a recipe for disaster. As we got closer to the houses, I became more nervous. I didn't want anyone to see that I had a Night Fury with me. It didn't matter whether he was tame or not. The first Viking to see Toothless would kill him, no questions asked. I had to keep him a secret.

I edged around a house that belonged to a Viking warrior. Conveniently, he was with my father, storming the mysterious island that was supposed to harbor every dragon we knew about. No one home. Glancing around, I saw Spitelout Jorgenson, who was Snotlout's father, walk past me from the great hall. The armory was just down the way.

"Hiccup," he acknowledged with a nod. I gave a fake grin and casually waved back to him. He walked past, not knowing there was a Night Fury within ten feet of him.

Until Toothless grunted. He crept slightly out of the shadow and was looking curiously in Spitelout's direction. Quickly, I shushed Toothless and got him back into the shadows. But Spitelout was too far away to hear. I breathed a sigh of relief and crept out of the shadow.

We entered the armory with little fuss, but Toothless found a bucket similar to the water buckets I was using. He stuck his snout into the bucket, and finding there was nothing of interest, tossed it off to the side. It crashed against some of the axes we had leaning against the wall, where they toppled in a loud heap. I jumped as the crashing got louder, knowing someone would find Toothless and kill him if I didn't hurry. Toothless didn't like the sound either, raising onto his back legs and snarling in the general direction of the sound. Since I was still tied to him, I staggered backwards, dangerously close to his front legs. "It's okay, buddy," I whispered. I put my hands out in front of him to let him know we weren't under attack. He calmed down and put his front feet back on solid ground. I was too close to see it when his head came down. His chin crashed into the top of my head, causing me to stumble slightly. I groaned in pain as Toothless watched.

"Hiccup?" a voice called. I sighed in frustration that our cover had been blown. The worst person who could have discovered us would have been my father, but he wasn't here. The person trying to find me was a close second: Astrid.

I had to do this quickly. We had several metal rods lying around. I grabbed one and wedged it into the hook on Toothless's saddle. I got it some of the way when Astrid called again, "Hiccup, are you in there?"

I grumbled slightly and hid the metal rod in my belt and guided Toothless toward the front vista. Jumped through it, quickly shutting the cover behind me. Hopefully Gobber wouldn't come around and find a fire-breathing beast in the armory.

"Oh, there you are," she said to me.

"Oh, uh, hiastrid," I said way too quickly. Unfortunately, my mind was stuck in a loop, because I added two more sentences, each slowing down, making me sound even more ridiculous than I already was. "Hi, Astrid. Hiiiii, Astrid."

She looked at me quizzically. "Where have you been for the last two days?"

"Uh, taking care of some urgent business," I lied.

"Hiccup, I normally don't care what you're doing, but Gobber has been worried about you. He thinks a dragon might have hurt you."

"Me? Not even maybe," I said with a nonchalant wave of my hand. "I can…I can hold my own against a dragon." I flexed my arms in a mock-show of strength.

"Well, whatever you're doing, get it done. Gobber is almost finished with the whole dragon-training course."

"Uh, okay. What time will we be training tomorrow?"

"In the morn…" she trailed off. Toothless had just found something and decided to investigate, inadvertently bringing me with him. I must have startled Astrid when I stumbled backwards with no apparent reason.

"Uh…" I started. I gave a stupid grin, hoping it would get her away from me.

"And why are you acting so weird all of a sudden? Well, weird-_er_," she corrected herself.

Toothless kept moving toward the object of his interest, causing me to levitate slightly.

"Hiccup! What's going on!?"

I didn't have time to say a word as Toothless bolted for something. I disappeared through the vista as Astrid caught a very brief glimpse of a Night Fury. A Night Fury who was dragging me behind him. Toothless must have realized I was still there, because after about three strides, he stopped, allowing me to get on his back.

"Hiccup, what is that!?" she yelled.

"_Go!_" I whispered to him. He took off running into the shadows.

"Hiccup?" Astrid called. I didn't answer.

Toothless sprinted back toward the cove and jumped in. He landed inside and I wrenched the hook back the rest of the way. Unhooked myself. And hugged Toothless. I sighed in relief as I held onto him.

"I'm sorry, buddy," I said. "I shouldn't have done that to you."

He just licked the side of my face, rumbling in contentment.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" He blinked. I left him in the cove as he settled down for some sleep.

I got home, feeling somewhat validated now. Not only did I give Toothless a second chance at life, but I had protected and cared for him when he needed it. I sat down on the side of my bed, thinking about what I had gotten myself into. I was doing what I felt was right by not killing Toothless, by giving him someone he could count on. And all I could think of was how ironic this mess was. What I knew as "right" was probably the most appalling crime in our little culture.

I knew I had embroiled myself in a mess, but I didn't care. Toothless was way too amazing to give up on him. There was no way I was going to leave his side now. I lay down and went to sleep, ready for tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

Oh, man. This wasn't going to be good. I woke up and realized I was going to walk into dragon training today after being truant for two days. I sighed, resigning myself to a maelstrom of Gobber's wrath and questions, but I figured I didn't have a choice.

I put my boots on and walked toward the great hall for breakfast. Slowly ate a fish and headed to the armory. I walked into the armory and looked around. I needed a shield with a flat centerpiece. Maybe I could get lucky and find one, or better yet, a shield with one that was concave. Doubted it though. Flat was most likely out of those two, but it wasn't popular here. For whatever reason, people on Berk preferred conical centerpieces to their shields.

I scanned through the shields we had strewn about the armory, looking for anything promising. I found one in the back of the armory with a sizeable layer of dust. Pulled it out and felt an itch in my nose. I turned my head to the side and sneezed, sending dust flying everywhere. Walked back toward the front of the armory and grabbed a coarse cloth. I began wiping the shield down so it would look at least somewhat cared for. After clearing the dust off, I went to town on the centerpiece, trying to achieve a mirror-like sheen. It took a little bit, but eventually, the centerpiece began showing another Hiccup looking back at me. Scrubbed some more. A near-perfect reflection. Time for the show. I headed out of the armory with my new weapon and ambled over to the arena.

"Ah, Hiccup, there you are!" Gobber said in a mixture of excitement and relief. "We needed you for the past two days. Nobody can figure out how you did what you did to the other dragons." The other teens looked at me, probably wondering what trick I had up my sleeve today.

"Well, I'm not sure I know either," I lied. "I think I've just been getting lucky."

"What have you been doing lately, anyway?" he asked. "And why did you run away from the armory two days ago?"

I just _knew_ he was going to ask this question. What made it worse was that we were in the arena, ready to start training. There were several more people here than normal, probably because of the rumors that had been flying around about me. About how I was reclusive because I didn't want to share my proprietary "dragon-fighting secrets." About how I might have been carried off by a dragon for the last two days. About how I went from Pathetic Viking Excuse to Master Dragon Fighter literally overnight.

"I, uh, I…Can we talk about this later? Really?" I asked.

"No, we can't. You need to explain to everyone here why you were truant. Dragon training isn't optional, because this is life and death."

I sighed in frustration. "I…I don't think this is a good time. Please, Gobber. I know I've been an inconvenience to everyone, but it really needs to wait." I wondered how "being an inconvenience" two days ago was different from any other day in Berk.

Gobber waved his hand in the air, giving up. "Fine. Let's meet the final dragon for training."

He walked over to a lever that didn't control a bole this time. It was just a small door, maybe two feet tall. I wasn't sure how it locked and unlocked, but I knew exactly which dragon was behind Door Number Four. The Terrible Terror.

I think Terrible Terrors are comically dangerous. These little guys are maybe four feet long from snout to tailtip. They walk on all fours and move like a lizard, just in larger form. Kinda like the Deadly Nadder, they are always vocalizing about something. Although, instead of cackles and warbles, the Terrible Terror is usually growling or snarling at something. I think they remind me of little dogs, how they are always fighting with each other and try to appear vicious despite their small size. Not that they aren't dangerous, mind you. I never saw a Terror that was scared to spit fire at something. They also come in a variety of colors, just like the other dragons, well, except for the Night Fury.

The Terrible Terror rushed out of its enclosure as Gobber shouted to us from nearby, "Meet the Terrible Terror!" He put the accent on the last syllable of "terror." All of us winced because Gobber was too close to us to be shouting. The miniature dragon licked its left eye to clean it. I have no idea why Terrors do this because they have eyelids anyway.

Tuffnut was the first one to recover his wits and laughed, pointing at it. "Ha! It's, like, the size of a…" The dragon saw Tuffnut moving and attacked, jumping onto his face and latching onto his nose with its jaws. "AUGH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" he shouted in panic as he fell to the ground.

"That's what you get for being complacent, Tuffnut," Gobber said with a hint of spite, probably taking his frustration from me out on Tuffnut.

I was content to let the little dragon have its fun with Tuffnut, but decided he shouldn't be too hurt. He was already "very much hurt" after the encounter with the Zippleback. I got really lucky today, because I knew a small dragon, like the Terrible Terror, was easily distracted. Angling myself to catch the sunlight with my shield, I quickly got a bright spot just behind Tuffnut's head. The Terror immediately saw the spot and pounced.

As the dragon left Tuffnut's head, he shouted, "OH, I AM HURT! I AM VERY MUCH HURT!"

"Give it a rest, will ya?" Gobber shouted back. "If you don't stop, I'll give you something to hurt about!"

The dragon snarled and growled at the bright spot, following it around. I let it play for a little bit, showing everyone my little trick. Unlike the garlic grass or eel, I couldn't hide this one, so I let everyone notice what was going on. Briefly, I thought about moving the spot onto Tuffnut's leg, but decided against it. Gobber was already mad at me, and I didn't need to show anyone here a cruelly sadistic Hiccup.

"Wow. He's better than you ever were," Tuffnut said to Astrid, his nose turning red. She just huffed and glared at him.

"Tuffnut, I don't need any of your commentary!" she shouted. Everyone else just watched in awe as I had complete control over the now-not-so-dangerous dragon.

I eventually got tired of showing off and let the light guide the dragon back to its door, where it wriggled in and was silent after that. Gobber locked the door and said, "Hiccup, how did you figure that one out?"

I shrugged. "Guessed. Got lucky."

Astrid just stared at me, saying, "You've said that about a hundred times. I don't think you're _just_ getting lucky. I think something else is going on with you."

I just looked at her, not saying anything with my expression. As usual when I was actually present, I had turned dragon training into a very short class. I felt kinda guilty taking away from Gobber's lesson plans, but in the end I didn't mind. It gave me more time with Toothless.

As I left the arena, the rest of the teenagers hounded me for my secrets, asking about what I was doing for the last two days. I couldn't tell them, because I wasn't quite sure yet if they actually trusted me for doing something illegal. We all had been indoctrinated with the idea of killing dragons, but I had been the only one so far who had gone against that teaching. Could I trust them enough to let them in on my little secret? Probably not, because if I blabbed in front of Astrid or Snotlout, Toothless would be as good as dead.

"I'm hungry. Let's get some lunch," I suggested. They all followed me into the great hall, agog with questions and excitement.

I selected a cod and sat down with a mug of water. There was a raucous murmur as several people got up off their seats and shuffled over to me. Apparently, I had become a celebrity in Berk and didn't even know it. The only person who didn't come over was Astrid, who looked extremely jealous and sour. It was bizarre going from Hiccup to celebrity and having to deal with positive attention. Although, to be honest, I preferred it from Toothless. He never bore in on me like the rest of the Vikings.

"OKAY, BREAK IT UP!" a voice called. It was Gobber. "Let the boy have his lunch!"

"Thanks, Gobber," I said as he passed by.

"You still owe me work from two days ago," he noted. And he walked toward the back of the great hall and skewered a fish.

Great. Fine time for Gobber to remind me of my truancy. But I decided I didn't care enough to help him in the armory. Not when there was an impatient Night Fury named Toothless waiting for me. And definitely not when there was flying to be done today. I finished my meal and walked out of the great hall like it was just another day. No hurry. I grabbed a basket from home, realizing I had forgotten the last one in the cove. Eventually, I'd have to bring both of them back.

I carried the basket up to the back of the great hall, where the fish were supposed to be. But because there was someone "stealing" them, they were kept inside now. I crept inside to see whether I could nab a few before someone noticed. Just like yesterday morning, there was a pile of fish and several eels. Nobody was looking, so I slithered behind the pile with the basket and sifted through the eels to get fish for Toothless. I had the basket about halfway filled when a Viking came walking back toward me. I immediately crouched behind the pile of fish with the basket next to my right foot. I was pretty sure he couldn't see what I was doing.

All of a sudden, the pile of fish shifted, revealing me with an open basket halfway filled with fish. I stood up and faced the Viking as he stopped whatever he was doing midstream. It was Spitelout. Again. I tried my hardest to hide the "busted" look that had plastered itself over my face and made a show of dumping the fish onto the existing pile.

"Sorry, that was me bringing fish in," I said, covering my theft.

Spitelout smiled and said, "A master dragon fighter like you, brining food in? You really _are_ humble, aren't you, Hiccup?"

I smiled sheepishly and said, "Sure."

He left without another thought. I left the basket in the great hall to keep anyone from becoming too suspicious. Since Berk was bustling with several Vikings milling around, I took a roundabout path through home to get to the forest.

As I entered the forest, I heard a sharp _thwack_. I stopped, trying to listen. After a few seconds, I heard a girl's voice scream a battle cry, punctuated by another _thwack_. It was Astrid, I was sure of that. It wasn't too hard to guess what she was practicing for.

I tried to sneak around her little area, watching her from a distance throw an axe into a tree and wedge it back out. She rolled and threw it into another tree. Wrenched the axe out and removed a few wooden shards. Whirled and threw it at yet another tree. She had this extreme focus I had only seen a handful of times.

I was mostly around Astrid's swath when she burst out of the grass with her axe ready to throw. She saw me and stopped her arm just in time to keep the sharp weapon from flying directly into my forehead. I saw the look of surprise on her face, probably matching mine, but it told me she didn't expect to see me here.

I quickly broke our little staring contest and hurried to the longest path I had carved out toward the cove. I heard her trying to follow me, trying to figure out what I was up to for the last few days. Unlike a typical Viking, Astrid knew her stuff about staying hidden and quiet when following someone. I ducked into the garlic grass nearby and crouched down about ten feet off of any discernible path. I made sure to close the gap I had created so that Astrid wouldn't expect to find me here. And hoped not to sneeze.

Maybe ten seconds had passed when I heard her jogging along the same path I had taken. I was grateful I had startled her enough to get her to freeze for an instant. She looked around for a few seconds before hurrying along the path. Toward the cove. This was bad. If she found the entrance to the cove, Toothless was in deep trouble. She had an axe in her hand. The same axe I had "sharpened" several days ago. I stayed where I was, hoping she wouldn't find anything of interest.

About a minute after she had passed me, I heard her double back on a different path. Astrid apparently hadn't found the entrance to the cove. I heard her sigh in frustration, figuring she had gotten so close to finding out what I had been doing for the last few days. But it would have to wait. I couldn't trust her yet.

I waited for a few minutes before continuing onward to the cove. Nobody followed me, so I ducked in underneath the shield that was still there. Crept down to the bottom level. Toothless was waiting.

"Hey, Toothless," I said as he bounded up to me. He was like a dog, just excited to see me every day. "You ready to go flying today?" His eyes shone with excitement and anticipation.

Toothless already had his saddle and prosthetic tail fin on. No setup required today. Also today, there was no leather strap to tether us to the ground. Everything would have to be done experimentally. Fly a little bit, try something, land, write it down. _This_ was going to be difficult. Toothless would probably get too excited, leaving me little room to actually learn how to fly. I'd have to learn as we went.

I put my hands on the saddle, and Toothless crouched without hesitation. I hooked up and said, "Let's do this." And tensed. Waiting.

Toothless hunkered down and took off. Even though I was ready, I still panicked in getting a grip on the saddle. Maybe with enough practice, I'd be able to figure out his timing.

Toothless pumped his wings, trying to get enough altitude to truly go somewhere. I kept guessing with the fin position, trying to remember where my foot was pointing so I could get a feel for what was going on. My base position was neutral, which correlated to the fin somewhere between spread out and collapsed, laying flat. Toothless didn't seem to mind. He was gaining altitude quickly enough. I could fine-tune what I needed to do later.

Slowly, Toothless leveled out, giving me a chance to get my bearings. I was thankful Toothless was incredibly smart, because it seemed he was aware that I was learning to fly.

"Okay, buddy. Let's take this nice and slow," I said. "Let's try, um, rolling out." I clicked the ratchet, rolling my left foot outwards. Glanced back at the tail fin. Turned down. Toothless was losing altitude and control. No good. Immediately, I clicked through neutral to rolled in. Tail fin turned up, Toothless leveled out and regained control. Good. "It's go time," I said to no one in particular.

Toothless turned right in a wide bank. I clicked the ratchet to toe-up. Tail fin spread completely out. Toothless was losing control, so I moved back to neutral. Wide bank accomplished.

Toothless seemed a little impatient today. We were pretty high up, so he decided to dive toward the open ocean. _This has disaster written all over it_, I thought. But I guessed I didn't have too much of a say in the matter. In fact, I cheered Toothless on, screaming, "Come on, buddy!" Clicked to toe-down. Tail fin collapsed. Toothless shot toward the water's surface in what had gone past "dive" status. We had probably reached "stoop" status by now. The sound of air rushing past me was almost deafening. Tears were building in my eyes as we hit maximum speed. But I couldn't think of anything more exhilarating. Thankfully, Toothless pulled out of the dive/stoop just before the water met us, and I immediately clicked back to neutral. We leveled out.

I breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the gods that I survived so far. But Toothless was far from finished. He wanted more. More flight. More speed.

"Can you slow down a bit, bud?" I yelled over the rushing wind. Toothless either wasn't listening or didn't hear me. No response. He threw me into the deep end, kinda like Gobber did that first day of dragon training.

I was focusing on where my foot was supposed to be, probably a little too intently. I heard Toothless give a short roar. Sounded like a warning. I refocused on what was in front of us. He was speeding right for a rock spire just in front of us. _Uh oh_, I thought. I felt Toothless try to bank to his right. I was too slow on the uptake and tried to figure out what to do to actually get him turning right. I rolled my foot out, extending the tail fin down slightly.

Toothless crashed into the rock spire, thinking quickly enough to use his legs to deaden the blow. I heard him skreel in frustration.

"Sorry, bud!" I called.

He crashed into another rock, only this time it was his side that took the blow. No feet to cushion anything. I heard and felt some of the breath get knocked out of Toothless as he crashed. He grunted and spread his wings out, slowing flight down a little.

"That's my fault. Sorry Toothless!" He just whuffed in irritation. I clicked back to neutral, seeing that our flight had leveled out. It was serene flying over the water like this. I bet no Viking had ever experienced _this_ before.

"OW!" I felt a sharp blow to the right side of my face. Toothless had just whipped his head and smacked me with one of his ears. I didn't need to irritate him anymore, so any flight that happened from here on out would have to be perfect. Great. "Yeah, yeah. I'm on it," I said. I guessed I didn't really have a choice anyway. Just follow Toothless's lead and do my best not to mess up. Or _else_.

Toothless banked upwards, so I clicked out. Slow rise. Needed to go faster. Clicked forward. Faster rise. We were in business.

Toothless pumped his wings trying to reach the sky. We were moving almost vertically. I was hanging on for dear life, but still watching Toothless's expression. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth. At this moment in time, Toothless was the happiest dragon anyone had ever seen. I heard and felt his breaths coming in sharp gasps from working so hard. But he seemed to enjoy reaching for the sky, so I let him go until he felt good enough to float back down to earth and land softly so I could kiss the ground for being alive.

Except that didn't happen. Toothless stalled in the air, preparing for a U-turn back toward the open ocean when I felt it. The keeping me secured to the saddle slipped out of their hooks. And I was floating in the air with nothing to hang onto. Toothless was a foot out of my reach.

"TOOTHLESS!" I screamed. "STOP!" But it was too late. Toothless felt me leave his back. To make matters worse, my little cheat sheet had slipped out of its mount at the front of the saddle. I needed that thing to help me figure out what to do. I grabbed it just before it fluttered off in the wind.

Both of us hung in the air for a split second before beginning the long plummet back to the ocean. Toothless gave a short bleat of fear as he started downwards. He had no control over his flight anymore unless I hooked back in.

"COME ON, TOOTHLESS! YOU'VE GOT TO ANGLE YOURSELF A LITTLE BETTER! COME ON, CLOSER!" I shouted.

Toothless went into what looked like a flat spin as he fell to earth. He was panicking too much. I had to take the initiative before we became minced meat.

"OW!" I shouted as his tail smacked me in the face. That blow sent me further away from him than I needed. I had to reach for the saddle as he was turning in midair. _Closer, closer_, I kept thinking. My hand brushed the edge of his saddle before it slipped out of reach again. But it was coming around again, thanks to Toothless's spinning. The second time, I grabbed onto the side and went on a spin with Toothless, trying to hold onto my cheat sheet with my left hand and hold on to life with my right. I jammed the cheat sheet into my mouth and grabbed onto the other side of Toothless's saddle before hooking in. I slammed my foot into the stirrup and clicked to toe-up. Tail fin spread out.

Toothless immediately spread his wings to slow his descent, but we were moving way too quickly. Toward a massive outcropping of rocks. There were too many spires, ledges and overhangs for us to dodge, but we had no other choice. Toothless shrieked in panic as he saw he couldn't slow down enough to avoid our fate. I saw air condensing off of his wingtips, meaning we were moving way too fast downwards for anything else to matter.

I ripped the cheat sheet out of my mouth and looked at it. The wind was blowing it shut, and there was no way I could unfold it. Looked up again. Those rocks were dead in front of us. I couldn't afford time to look at the sheet and decide. I tossed it behind us and leaned forward, my chest almost on the saddle.

Clicked to neutral. No more losing altitude. Rolled out. Toothless went vertical on his left side, narrowly avoiding a spire. Neutral. Level. Rolled in. Toothless rose to his right a little, avoiding a crashing wave. Neutral. Toe-down. Underneath an overhang. Rolled out. Vertical again. Toe-up. Slow rise, avoiding another wave. Click. Click. Click. We were in sync. Toothless barrel rolled to avoid a final spire as we crossed underneath a large stone arch.

I looked up, knowing there was nothing in front of us except water. We were outracing several seagulls above us. Looked forward. Open water.

"YEEEEEEAAAH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, sitting up straight, arms outstretched. Toothless was just as excited and shot a fireball in front of himself. It exploded about two seconds later, enveloping us in a cloud of fire and heat.

"Oh, come on," I said in disbelief. My shoulders slumped and I tried to duck underneath the fire, but couldn't quite make it in time. I felt my face tingling and my hair getting singed. Getting stuck in a slicked-back position. "Did you _really_ need to do that?" I asked him as we flew, still together. He grunted back at me.

Toothless landed neatly on a small island with a lake. I could barely make out Berk in the distance. We found that the lake was teeming with fish, so Toothless went to work on catching a meal or two. I dismounted and thought about making a fire. Gathered several sticks and one that was sharp enough to be a skewer. By the time I had gotten back to the lake, Toothless had a large collection of about twenty fish in front of him. He was happy about his next meal. Slowly, I crept forward to sneak a fish away. Toothless let me grab one, watching me the entire time. He never showed any sign that he wanted the fish back. Maybe it was his way of repaying me for all the meals I had given him over the last week. I skewered it and then set up the sticks into a pyramid for fire.

Toothless immediately figured out what I was up to, because he edged forward and lit the pyramid with a continuous stream of fire, not unlike that first evening we met. When I had given him a fish. When we touched for the first time. "Thanks, bud," I said. He grunted slightly and nudged me in the arm, eyes closed.

Toothless grabbed a fish with his mouth, bit in half and swallowed. "You'd better not," I warned him. I sat down next to him and started cooking my fish, ready for a nice hot meal. Toothless began gagging. I heard him trying to regurgitate part of the fish. And that was exactly what he did. The front half of the fish came sliding out of his mouth, followed by a long trail of dragon saliva. I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good, buddy," I said as he looked at me expectantly. Toothless shook his head a little and got to work on his meal. I waited until my fish had a slightly charred look. By then it would be thoroughly cooked.

Toothless perked and began growling after I had taken a few bites. "What is it?" I asked. "Do you want this fish back?" But he wasn't focused on me. He protectively gathered his pile of fish, trying to make sure someone wouldn't take it. His growling intensified. I had no idea what he was on.

Within seconds, three Terrible Terrors landed in front of us, grunting and snarling at each other. One of them, a green dragon, quickly snagged the half fish that Toothless wanted me to have. Toothless snapped at it, causing it to drop the morsel, but a brown Terror snatched up the fish. Toothless snapped again, but the little brown dragon wasn't daunted. It hissed at Toothless, allowing the green dragon to resteal its food. It dragged the half fish away and sat up, looking around. It glanced at me and saw I wasn't a threat to its food. The brown dragon came back and tried to re-resteal the fish, but the green Terror snarled. I could feel it. A skirmish was about to start. The tension in the air was palpable…well, about as intense as it gets when two small, fire-breathing lizards acting like Chihuahuas square off. The green dragon kept snarling, doing some kind of pushups, trying to frighten the brown dragon. But the brown Terror wasn't fazed. It sucked in a quick breath and blasted a stream of fire at the green Terror. The green dragon immediately backed away from the flames, and the little brown dragon finally had its meal. The green dragon flew off towards the lake.

I was just sitting there with a few bites missing from my fish. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to laugh or try to protect my meal like Toothless was doing. But while the show was going on, another Terror, this one a dingy red, had crept into Toothless's pile of fish. It snagged one and backed out, alerting Toothless. He grunted and his eyes opened in surprise, watching the fish inexplicably moving on its own. When he saw the Terror, he lunged at the fish and pulled it out of the red Terror's mouth. The tail broke off, leaving a small fin sticking out of the little dragon's mouth, while Toothless gulped down what was rightfully his fish. Just the little red dragon didn't know it.

Toothless made a series of noises that sounded to me like several short gasps. It took me a few seconds to realize he was laughing at the Terrible Terror. He must have hit on the wrong note for that dragon, because the Terror snarled and clawed at the ground in a show of intimidation, kicking up small gouts of sand. But since Toothless was, oh, maybe thirty times this dragon's size, it didn't really work. He just stared at the little dragon complacently.

The Terror sucked in a breath and got ready to fire. Toothless immediately shot a small fireball into the Terror's mouth. Within one second, the little dragon inflated like a balloon, popped a foot into the air and collapsed back down on earth, deflating. It staggered away with a weary groan from the Night Fury who had just put on a demoralizing show. Toothless turned back to his fish with a disinterested grunt and started eating like nothing had happened. To him, Terrible Terrors weren't really the most important thing to worry about.

"Huh. Not so fireproof on the inside," I observed. I snagged a small fish just outside of Toothless's pile and tossed it over to the defeated Terror. "Here ya go, little guy."

The dragon perked and swallowed the fish before anything else could happen to it. Like a Night Fury. It looked at me and made a churring noise. Took a few steps and stopped. Looked at me again. Took a few more steps. Looked again. Blinked. I wasn't moving. I wasn't sure what this dragon was after, but it was taking its time heading in my direction. It was maybe two feet from my left hand. I kept still, trying to make sure the dragon wouldn't attack me like what happened to Tuffnut.

A few more steps and the dragon was between my hand and Toothless's back foot. It slithered under my left hand and curled up against my left leg. Its way of saying thanks for the food. The little dragon relaxed and started to fall asleep. I felt its heart beating, its breaths coming and going quickly. I had only given this little dragon a fish, and now I was its friend for the afternoon.

I stole a glance at Toothless who just looked back at me. Behind his eyes, I saw his approval. I stroked the Terrible Terror's side, noting that it wasn't so terrible after all. One fish, and the dragon was now a Not-So-Terrible Terror. "Everything we know about you guys…is _wrong_," I said to the air in front of me.

I continued eating my fish, tossing the unwanted portions into the fire, where it immediately blackened and sizzled audibly. Toothless finished his meal and curled slightly around me and the Terrible Terror with a relaxed sigh. He put his head on his front paws and looked up at me. His eyes were round, and his breathing sounded like the bellows in the armory. "You're amazing, Toothless," I whispered. I stroked his cheek with my right hand, listening to him rumble quietly.

I sat next to Toothless with the Terror resting under my left hand for the afternoon. This was really too peaceful. Berk and any problems I might have had there were in the distance, my best friend was a happy Night Fury, and I had apparently made another friend too. Nothing to bother us. The three of us relaxed, watching the sky slowly change colors.

* * *

Toothless nudged my arm gently as the sun was falling, telling me to get back to Berk. I stood up, leaving the Terrible Terror by my leg by itself. It quickly noticed I wasn't there anymore. No more human to shield it from a Night Fury. The little red dragon stood up, stretched and made some kind of grunting sound before flying off. I climbed on Toothless's back and he took off.

This time around, there were no acrobatics. Toothless knew he had to get back to the cove. We were flying high enough not to cause trouble on Berk, but I noticed something different. There was one ship heading toward Berk. It had only one sail left and was almost sunk from damage. My father was back…after a week. Normally it took two for this kind of expedition.

A pang of realization stabbed me in the gut. I wasn't sure how much longer I could hide Toothless. We flew over Berk toward the cove and landed neatly. He didn't know I was about to run into problems keeping him a secret. He only knew we were able to fly today. Finally, but on the day my father got back. I felt sorry for Toothless, knowing my time with him was probably limited now. Not just when I could visit him. But when the rest of Berk would find out.

When the rest of Berk would find out. It was always in the back of my mind, but until my father returned, I never had paid it attention. I knew when I truly met him on that evening we first touched I was never going to turn back. I had known this entire week that my friendship with Toothless was hopeless thanks to the rest of Berk not understanding. Thanks to me being Hiccup, the not-to-be-taken-seriously son of the chief. They would relish the opportunity to kill Toothless. Like I should have done that first day. I could think of a thousand reasons why I should have killed him. I couldn't come up with a single reason why I let him go. Why I befriended him. Why I helped him fly again. But I did anyway. Logic was screaming at me, telling me this friendship was doomed from the start. But I didn't care. Even if the time was fleeting, Toothless was the best gift I had ever received.

"See you tomorrow, buddy" I told him, trying to hide the anxiousness in my voice. I rubbed the side of his head, listening to him rumble softly. For him, there couldn't have been a better day.

I left the cove and crept back toward Berk. The Vikings who didn't join my father's little expedition were already waiting at the docks. Judging by the size of the boat, it was going to tie up within about five minutes.

Over the years, I had found several ways to hide underneath the wooden slats leading from the docks to mainland Berk. I used one of them to slither underneath a bridge and hide in the shadows. I was far enough away to keep from attracting attention, but close enough to hear what people were saying.

The ship docked as the crew disembarked, all of them looking worn out and disheveled. My father was the last to leave the ship. He looked at it and asked Gobber, "Do you think we can fix it?" His voice was too solemn to say he found the dragons' island.

"It'll probably take a week," Gobber said. He picked up on my father's mood and asked, "Okay, Stoick, what happened?"

"We lost two ships in one hour looking for that Thor-forsaken nest. We had to turn back after that."

"Did you lose any men?"

"All of them are here. That was the only good thing about this stupid trip. I hope you had more luck on your end."

"Well, if by that you mean your parenting troubles are over, then yes."

At this moment several villagers bounded down toward the docks congratulating my father. He received compliments like, "Congratulations, Stoick! Everyone is so relieved." "Out with the old and in with the new!" "That's the last time we'll be seeing any of that helpless little runt again!"

My father just looked at Gobber. "He…he's gone?"

Gobber stroked his chin, thinking. "Every afternoon. But who could blame him? The life of a celebrity is very difficult around here. He can hardly walk around Berk without being noticed by his new legions of fans."

"Gobber, you're lying. This is _Hiccup_ we're talking about, right?" He and Gobber started walking inland.

"Who would have thought it? Hiccup just has this…this _way_ with the beasts."

"Have you been paying attention to _where_ he goes?"

"No. Nobody can follow him, and he won't tell anyone. He just disappears when we don't have training."

"Has he given you any trouble?"

Gobber paused in thought for a bit. "You know, Hiccup always seems to make the dragon training courses extra-short. Especially after he figured it out."

"What are you saying?" my father asked as they walked directly above me.

"Oh, Hiccup was helpless at first, just like you said he would be. But one day, he just became an expert. D'you think it's because I can teach that well?"

My father paused in thought. "Maybe. We'll see tomorrow."

Gobber continued walking as my father stopped and stood in shock. His own awkward son, the talk of the town. The _positive_ talk of the town.

* * *

I trudged my way back to Berk from the docks. After seeing my father return today, I wanted to run back to the cove to protect Toothless. Even though he was perfectly healthy today. I didn't go to the cove though. Without thinking, my feet took me to the armory. I shuffled in, looking at the anvil and bellows we used for blacksmithing. My eyes focused on the bellows. I blew them once, watching the coals turn from dull red to vivid orange. I thought about how similar the bellows sounded to Toothless's breathing. I turned toward the back of the armory and started walking. Brushed back the leather hang to my little drawing room. Stepped in. Closed the curtain and flopped into my seat, resting my head and arms on the board with a sigh. I flipped a pencil up my drawing board. The slant brought it back down to me. I had no idea what to make of this situation. I had been putting off showing Toothless to the rest of Berk. I thought I'd have plenty of time to get him tame enough to show the teens and then bring Gobber over. It wasn't serious yesterday, but this evening had given it a violent shove into deadly serious.

I felt like I was going to hurl. Or cry. Or scream. I flipped the pencil again. It came back down to me. Flip. Roll. Flip. Roll. Reset because it canted off to the side a little. Flip. Roll.

A scraping sound caught my attention. Probably Gobber looking for something. I kept my attention on the drawing board two inches in front of my nose. The leather hang brushed back and seven feet two inches of Viking stepped in. My father, a.k.a. Stoick the Vast.

"Dad!" I shouted probably too loudly, jumping up straight. My sheets of parchment were strewn all over the place. Most of them had detailed Night Fury sketches. I had several pages I thought might have been _Book of Dragons_ worthy, containing information about how a Night Fury behaved, or how to keep from getting blasted. I tried to hide all the information from him as discreetly as I could, saying, "Uh, Gobber's not here right now."

"I know. I came looking for you."

"Y-you did?" I was still trying to hide parchment from him. He had a very clear view of several Night Fury drawings. If he saw one of those…

He fixed me with a glare and said, "Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it."

"Uh, what are you trying to say…?"

"Let's talk. About your dragon."

He saw it. A Night Fury sketch. Toothless was about to be dead. I couldn't hide the obvious look of guilt on my face. "Oh, no. It's all so messed up. I…I should have told you earlier about this, just…"

I stopped because my father started to bray with laughter. I had never seen him this happy before. "What!? I was hoping for this!"

"You…you were?"

"Yes! Oh, sixteen years of the worst Viking Berk had ever seen! Odin, it was rough! But all this time you'd been holding out on me! Oh, Thor almighty!" He gave me a playful shove, sending me a few feet back into a large basket holding parchment scraps.

"I was?" I had no idea what he was on. "I…have no…idea…what you're…talking about…" I stammered. He was either happy that I had trained a dragon, or he had a different idea.

"And believe me, it only gets better from here!"

"Um, okay? What am I missing?"

"Just think of the feeling you're going to get when you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time! Or when you mount your first Gronckle head." He smiled in elation.

Oh. I didn't even have to wriggle out of this situation. He still had no idea about Toothless, even though several sketches were staring him right in the face.

"With you doing so well in the ring, now we'll have plenty to talk about." He had this excitedly expectant look on his face, subliminally telling me I needed to describe all of the events that I had been through in the arena. But they were all tricks. Lies. Ideas that I had learned by paying attention to Toothless. He sidled closer to me, ready for a boatload of information. I looked off to the side, not wanting to meet his stare. He was boring in on me, and I was holding out on him, like I was hiding a newborn grandchild from him.

"It's…okay if you don't want to tell me now, son," my father said after a long wait. "We can talk about it later." He stood up to leave, but stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot. I, uh, wanted you to have this." He produced a helmet with two horns on either side, not unlike his own. "Take good care of it."

I took the helmet from his hands gently, not wanting to defile it by dropping it or scratching it. "For me? Thanks, Dad."

I had my hand on top of the crown, feeling for the first time the metal that would be protecting my head. "It was your mother's. Half of her breastplate." My hand shot off the metal like it was orange-hot. Is that _seriously _where my father got his helmet from too? "Matching set," he said, pointing to his own helmet. "Keeps her close, you know."

I didn't know what to say. Should I have thanked him for the helmet or whined about wearing half of a breastplate? Another awkward silence fell between us. I broke it by faking a yawn. "Oh, I'm tired. I think I'll get some sleep."

"Okay," my father said without hesitation. I was pretty sure he was still excited about me learning how to "fight" dragons. "Good talk. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yes, and thanks for the, uh, breast-hat. 'Night, Dad."

"Good night, Hiccup." And with that he made to leave, bonking his helmet on one of the rafters. "See you in the morning," he said as he adjusted his helmet. He brushed back the leather hang and walked out. I watched my father put his hands on his hips and breathe a massive sigh. He took one step to the left and crashed into several shields, which toppled in a heap with a raucous clatter.

"I'll take care of those," I called after him. I really didn't want my father to see what I had been up to. Not only to rain on his crazy belief that I was a good dragon fighter, but also to keep Toothless away from him.

I sighed and sat back down at my drawing board, my face buried in my arms. Every passing minute brought more worry about Toothless. I organized the sheets of parchment and put them away in case someone came back. That was too close to having my own father, the most gung-ho dragon fighter on Berk, discover the Night Fury I had been keeping a secret for the last week. After arranging the papers, I stared at a blank wooden surface. I couldn't go back home. My secret was too close to the surface. But my father was home now. I couldn't be truant with him like I had done to Gobber. My father was much less lenient with me. I had no choice but to walk home.

I arranged the shields and walked into my own house. My father was already fast asleep after a long journey. I climbed upstairs, avoiding the fifth step to keep him from waking, and slid into bed. I just hoped I could get up earlier than him. Spend a little bit of time with Toothless before the final dragon fighting class.

The final day was going to be just me and Astrid against a dragon. Whoever did best would have the "honor" of killing a dragon in front of Berk. All I could think of was how that dragon was going to be Toothless. How they would find him and shackle him into a pen. How I would win the final day of training. And how I would have to kill my best friend in front of the rest of Berk.


	11. Chapter 11

Dawn's light was barely creeping into my window as I awoke. I slid out of bed and ended up collapsing in a heap on the floor with a groan. My father, who was sleeping downstairs, snored audibly but didn't wake up. My thighs were in abject pain from yesterday. I hadn't realized flying on Toothless was so much work. I massaged my thighs for a few minutes and tried to stretch some of the soreness out. Stood up carefully and limped my way into the washroom, grimacing with each step. I quickly washed myself and amidst all the burning soreness inadvertently stomped down the stairs, noticing my father still hadn't awoken. Neither had the rest of Berk, which was good. I was paying attention to keeping my father asleep when my right foot hit the fifth step. A sharp _pop_ reverberated throughout the living area, making me jump and come back down on the fifth step, where it popped again. It seemed like I was making enough noise to awaken that cantankerous old Viking way on the outskirts of the main village. I paused, trying to recall his name. I knew it wasn't What's-His-Name. It was Mil-something-or-other. I sighed, knowing this was going to bug me until I remembered. What was even more irritating was that my mind thought this was more important than getting to Toothless.

But right now, I had a nice little conundrum to deal with. I had to skip a step, because putting all of my weight on the fifth step would probably make it explode to bits after the abuse I had put it through. But if I skipped the step, I would be in sheer pain from overstretching an already sore area. I sighed in frustration as I brought my right foot back up. Leaned over the edge of the step I was on, aiming for the fourth step. My right foot crunched down on the fourth step, and I stumbled forward, grunting in pain and panic as I hit the wall in front of me. I leaned against the wall, waiting for not only my father to wake up, but the rest of Berk as well. I heard him groan audibly and turn over in his bed, but he never got up. I staggered to the door and opened it much more quietly than I had negotiated the stairs. Closed the door and started walking toward the armory.

I got to the armory and remembered. Mildew. And his dumb pet sheep, Fungus, who he never let walk. As I snagged a basket, the satisfaction I felt in remembering the most important problem of the last two minutes disappeared. A pang of dread hit me in the gut, making the climb from the armory to the great hall look like it was a stairway to infinity.

I slowly made my way to the great hall and filled it about halfway with fish. For Toothless. Every passing minute brought more worry, more uncertainty that I would be able to see him again. I felt like this might have been the last meal he would receive from me.

I slid under the shield that was still at the entrance of the cove and slipped down to the bottom level. Toothless was still asleep. He was in the middle of the cove, curled up and at peace with the world. I wasn't. My insides were churning because soon, Toothless…I couldn't finish the thought.

Toothless grunted and raised his head. Blinked a few times and looked at me. Stretched, yawned and lumbered over. I took a deep breath, hearing my breath quavering as I exhaled.

"H-hey there, buddy," I stammered to him. I placed the basket down and wrapped his neck in a hug. He just let me stay there, not moving. I didn't say anything, because there was nothing to be said. I just wanted Toothless to know that no matter what, I was going to be there for him.

Toothless licked me on the cheek. I looked up at him, seeing his expression. He might not have understood what I was going through, but he knew I was worried about him. His eyes told me that everything would be okay. That _he_ wasn't going anywhere. He groaned softly and nuzzled against my chest. Toothless must have picked up on some of the emotion I was spilling. For all of the faults and shortcomings I had compared to a Viking, Toothless certainly saw something in me that was different. It felt like he and I were meant to be together. Like it was destiny.

"Thanks, bud," I said quietly. I smiled a little at him. He grinned back at me. We were communicating, and that was all it took to make me feel better.

I walked back to the basket and tipped it over, spilling the fish in front of Toothless. "I've gotta go," I told him. "I really hope this isn't the last meal you'll get from me." I left him in the cove with the fish and took the basket. Toothless grunted and looked at me curiously after I started walking away. He wasn't used to me bringing food and then abruptly leaving. I turned back toward him and hugged him one more time. Let him go after a few seconds and climbed out of the cove with the basket. And slowly ambled my way back to Berk.

* * *

No tricks this time. Well, no tricks that could be seen. It had to be like magic. When that dragon came out of its pen, it was going to have to be something I could do that nobody else could see. And I wasn't going to tell a soul about it.

I glanced around the rows of stone surrounding the arena, noticing that it was full of Vikings watching Astrid and me compete. Some of them were placing bets, trying to call which one of us would earn the "honor" of killing a dragon. I saw my father watching intently, not budging. The Elder, Gothi, was there too, just as emotionless as my father.

Gobber had several small walls peppered around the arena. He instructed us to hide behind a wall. As I crouched down with my legs still on fire, Astrid walked up to me and shoved my shield downward, glaring directly into my eyes. "Hiccup, just stay out of my way. I'm winning this one."

"Please, by all means," I replied. I was being honest with her. If she won, then I'd introduce her to Toothless. I'd show her that dragons aren't all bad and how she wouldn't have to kill a dragon. I sat down behind the wall as she strode away, thankful she had just changed my plans for the better.

I heard the bole holding a door shut ratchet upwards. The door burst open and a raspy snarl filled the arena. The Gronckle. This one should be simple. Astrid could take it down without too much trouble. I watched her dart behind a different wall, positioning herself for the shot that would spell her victory.

Do you ever get this itchy feeling for no reason in your nose? And that imminent feeling when it spreads? I felt my nose tingle as the dragon rounded a corner about fifteen feet away from me. It spread into my sinuses when I realized it would be able to see me. I let out an earth-shattering sneeze as the dragon turned its head in my direction. The Gronckle focused its eyes on me and charged. My entire plan was ruined, because the Gronckle _saw me sneeze_.

"This time! This time for sure!" Astrid whispered. She leapt over the first wall and stopped. The Gronckle was lying on its side with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. I had stopped the dragon before she could even get a plan together.

I made several motions at once, trying to explain to Astrid with crude body language that the dragon saw me and I couldn't send it over to her. Her eyes caught fire glaring at me. She threw her axe down and stomped on it, shouting, "NO! NO! THIS _CAN'T_ HAPPEN!"

Before she could direct her wrath at me, I said to her and Gobber, who was heading our way, "So, are we done? Because I'm kinda late for something."

Instantaneously, Astrid materialized in front of me and grabbed my fur vest. "For what? _Late for WHAT!?_" she spat. She couldn't have been any less scary at this moment in time if she was an angry Night Fury ready to blow me apart with a fireball. In fact, the only time I remember being this scared was when Toothless had me under his front leg and was glaring at me.

I tried to weasel my way out of her grip when Gobber finally reached us. "Hang on, you two. You'll have plenty of time later to kill each other." I squeezed my eyes shut in irritation at Gobber's badvice. "But first, the Elder will now decide the winner."

Astrid released her grip on my vest and stood on one side of Gobber. I was on the other, the side with his prosthetic hook. Gobber raised his right hand and pointed down at Astrid. The diminutive old lady shook her head slightly, frowning. Gobber lowered his right hand and raised his hook over my head and looked at the Elder. She grinned and pointed at me. The one time I wanted to be ignored. _Great_, I thought. _Just great_.

Fishlegs and Snotlout stormed in and tackled me, apparently excited I had become a "master dragon fighter." Fishlegs lifted me on his shoulders and screamed, "You did it, Hiccup! You won!"

I raised my arms in mock-triumph, put on a fake grin and said in some kind of pseudo-excitement, "I can't believe I did it! I'm so excited!"

Fishlegs was giddy with excitement. "So, Hiccup, d'you wanna train for tomorrow? I'll help. I can do whatever you need."

"Uh, no thanks," I replied. "I just wanna go eat lunch. I'm starving."

"Okay, we can do that too." We headed to the great hall and sat down with the other teens. Snotlout and the twins were hounding me, trying to get inside my head. They wanted to know what it felt like to have the honor of killing a dragon. As a rite of passage.

I couldn't tell them a thing, because tomorrow was going to be here sooner than I could ever hope for. And I didn't want it to arrive. If I told them I was dreading it, they'd never understand. They'd say it's okay to be scared, but I could handle any dragon. They'd say I could kill any dragon after Gobber's class. They'd never understand that in a nearby cove, I had been keeping a dragon secret, helping him live.

"I'm, uh, really excited to be able to…um…kill a dragon tomorrow. I can't wait," I told them. "Just be ready for a really good show." I finished my fish while they chatted amongst themselves. Got up and took my plate and mug to the back to be cleaned. Walked past our table and noticed Astrid hadn't been here all this time. She was probably too angry with me after an hour ago.

"See you guys later," I called as I passed our table. Fishlegs and the twins waved excitedly at me. As I left the great hall, I saw no one nearby. "I am _so_ leaving," I said under my breath.

I stopped at home. Nobody there. Good. I grabbed a satchel, resealable mug and a metal skewer wrapped in leather. I figured that was all I needed for a few days' journey. Toothless could fly me away from Berk, and we could survive on our own. At this point, I had no other solution other than to be "conveniently absent" tomorrow. I had wanted Astrid to win today, because she was the one person in Berk who even remotely understood me. I thought I had the best chance of getting through to her about Toothless. But fate had to intervene and declare me the winner.

As I walked through the forest, I thought of different ways to figure this out. I knew for sure I wasn't going to kill a dragon tomorrow, so that alternative disappeared in a puff of smoke. Maybe I could pacify the dragon. In front of a bunch of raucous Vikings? Yeah, right. The dragon would be too spooked for anything except fighting. I could show up fashionably late with Toothless. But so many things could go wrong with that. The Vikings would probably scream bloody murder and try to kill him. And I wasn't completely sure if Toothless was tame and obedient enough to be in Berk around other people. If I were absent tomorrow, I'd get more than an earful about missing my chance to become a Viking, but I wouldn't have to deal with the dilemma of killing a dragon. At least until later. I'd be able to wait until all the hullabaloo died down, and then I could show all of Berk how amazing Toothless was.

But that was essentially procrastination. I needed to address the problem, not avoid it. I sat down on the rock I hid behind when I first found Toothless, when I realized I couldn't kill him. Thought it over. Nothing. I had to leave for a few days. I stood up and walked toward the cove.

I froze at the entrance, noticing the shield I had stuck there over a week ago was gone. Crawled through the gap in the rocks. I stood up and looked around, my heart racing. I was hoping, praying to the gods that Toothless was okay.

As I crept down to the bottom level, I saw nothing. Nobody here. Maybe somebody found the cove, but Toothless did a good job of hiding. Looked around again. No Viking, no dragon. Hopefully I was safe.

"Come on, Toothless. I think it's time we took a little vacation from here," I called. I opened my satchel to make sure everything was there when I heard it. It sounded like stone on metal. Like sharpening a blade. My eyes shot up and found Astrid sitting on a nearby rock, sharpening her axe with a smooth stone. "Astrid! What…what are you dooooing here?" I stammered as my mind froze on the word "doing."

She continued sharpening her axe nonchalantly. "I wanna know what's going on. In here," she said motioning in general around the cove. She jumped down off her rock and strode toward me. "Nobody just _gets_ as good as you do. Especially you." She was closing in on me and I had nowhere to go. "Start talking. Have you been training in secret? Is there somebody helping you? Does it have anything to do with _this_?" she asked as she grabbed my flight vest.

"Uh, yeah, it does. You got me," I lied. "I've been making…um, outfits! You know, I'm really superstitious, and I think they've brought me a lot of luck. So go ahead. Take me back to Berk. Tell them everything," I said as I took a hold of her hand. She glared at me and contorted my wrist. My knees buckled from the pain. "OW! Why would you do that?"

"_That's_ for the lies," she said as she kicked me in the ribs, making me collapse on my back. "And _that's_," she said as she dropped the butt end of her axe on my chest, "for everything else." She stepped on my stomach to walk further into the cove.

I was lying on the ground winded as she ambled away from me. Slowly, I stood. "Uh, Astrid," I said between breaths. "You _do_ know there's someone else here besides us, right?" I was checking to see if she had done anything to Toothless. No response. She ignored me.

Until she saw something menacing in the far corner of the cove. Two yellow-green eyes with slits for pupils glared at her. I saw her freeze in terror and double back. "Hiccup! Get down!" she yelled as she tackled me.

The owner of those two yellow-green eyes came rushing out of the shadows. Toothless got maybe ten feet from Astrid and roared at her in anger. He was standing on his hind legs with his wings spread. His teeth were bared, and he was ready to fight to the death to protect me.

Astrid immediately stood and readied her axe. I leapt up and tackled her to prevent her throwing it at the Night Fury in front of us. She kicked me off of her, but I was too fast to her axe. I threw it away from Astrid, behind and slightly to the left of Toothless.

"HICCUP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" she shouted at me. Toothless roared in anger again. "HE'S GOING TO KILL US!" She used every bit of her strength to shove me aside, sprinting toward her axe. Toothless jumped between her and her weapon with his teeth bared. Glaring at her. He gave a short roar, which made her slowly back away. "Hiccup, wh- what do I do?"

"Nothing, just stay there," I said panting.

"HICCUP!" she shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU…" She couldn't finish her thought because Toothless jumped toward her and roared yet again. I knew he did it because he didn't like her shouting. Astrid backed away in terror. Toothless shot a fireball about five feet to Astrid's right, making sure she understood exactly what he was telling her. She froze on the spot, her face ashen white from fear, not knowing what to do about the dragon in front of her. Astrid, like the rest of Berk, had thought the Night Fury was the stuff of legend until a few seconds ago. And she probably wished it had _stayed_ the stuff of legend.

I strode between Toothless and Astrid, facing Astrid and said, "It's okay! You just scared him." Toothless came back down to all fours and rubbed under my hands, but still glared at Astrid. He was thankful that I was okay from the beating Astrid had doled out on me. And I was thankful Astrid didn't do anything to hurt him.

"I SCARED _HIM!?_" she yelled. She shot a look at Toothless, who growled at her. "_Who…is 'him'?_"

Well, this was it. Time to introduce Toothless to the world. I stepped away from Toothless, saying, "Astrid, this is Toothless." I motioned toward Toothless for her. Glanced at Toothless, who was still glaring at Astrid. Great. This was going to be bad. "Uh, Toothless…Astrid," I said shakily. Toothless snarled at Astrid, warning her never to come close to me again.

Astrid stood there in shock. I couldn't tell if she had put two and two together to figure out that Toothless was the reason for my success in dragon training. Slowly, she said, "_You. Are. So. Busted._" And turned to run out of the cove.

"Oh, hooray! We're dead!" I said sardonically. Toothless grunted and loped off. I turned and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just where do you think _you're_ going?" I chased after Toothless and put my hand on his side. Underneath one of his wings. He snarled, telling me he didn't like Astrid. "I know you don't like her, but we need to stop her from telling the rest of Berk about you. So come on." I put my hands on the saddle. Toothless heaved a sigh of frustration but let me get on his back. We took off.

We flew out of the cove, looking for Astrid. She hadn't made it far because of the maze of paths I had carved out in the forest leading to the cove. Her panic was getting in the way of her sense of direction. I smiled on the inside, grateful I was inadvertently causing problems for someone. She burst into a clearing, and I whispered to Toothless, "_Now, buddy!_" He dove, and I clicked the tail fin into gear. Toothless snatched Astrid off the ground, grabbing her by the upper arm. He took off, away from Berk and back toward the cove. She screamed in panic, realizing Toothless was ready to kill her at any moment.

I saw a sturdy looking tree near the cove and pointed it out to Toothless. He landed about two-thirds of the way to the top and dropped Astrid on a branch about five feet below him. She reflexively grabbed onto the branch with a yelp. The tree sagged under Toothless's weight but stayed generally upright. Astrid looked down and saw the ground was too far away to drop. Toothless wanted to make sure she knew he was in control of her situation. If she got too aggravating, he could just blast her out of the tree and watch her fall thirty feet to the ground.

"HICCUP! GET ME _DOWN_ FROM HERE!" Toothless growled at her, reminding her of her predicament. She looked up at Toothless in fear. "And get him to stop!"

"Astrid, you have to give me a chance to explain," I stated from Toothless's back.

"I AM NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY!"

"Okay, then I won't speak. Just let me _show_ you." After that I was silent. I knew she wouldn't listen to another one of my words, so I just let her decide to concede defeat and let me show her why I did so well in dragon training.

"HICCUP! I SAID GET ME DOWN!"

I stayed mum, like she had wanted. Just stared at her, unflinching. Toothless continued growling at her. I said nothing using words or with body language. I was waiting for Astrid to make a decision. Either she could hang here or she could play along with my little ruse. It was her choice.

Astrid must have decided, because she slowly climbed up the branch she was hanging from. Toward Toothless. He continued glaring at her. I was tempted to tell him to stop, but I wanted Astrid to feel the fear that I went through when I first met Toothless. She needed to understand that dragons had feelings too. That they were extremely smart creatures. Especially Night Furies.

Toothless was rumbling continuously at Astrid, making sure she knew if she took one wrong step, she was history. I lowered my hand to help her onto his back, but she slapped it out of the way. Toothless quietly snarled at her. She stood on her branch and climbed up to Toothless's level. And placed her hands on the saddle. He growled at her again. Astrid looked at me. I didn't say anything using words or facial expressions. She climbed onto the saddle behind me and commanded, "Okay, now get me down."

"Okay, Toothless," I said, patting the side of his neck softly. "Down. Gently." He spread his wings. "See, Astrid? Nothing to be afraid of." Toothless rumbled in frustration and tensed. It wasn't like the other times when he took off. This time felt…different. "Astrid, just hang on," I said.

"Wha…?"

Before she could say anything else, Toothless launched into the air at top speed. Astrid was screaming, trying to keep from falling off of him and eventually wrapped her arms around my midsection.

"TOOTHLESS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? WE NEED HER TO LIKE US!" I shouted to him over the rushing wind. But he would have none of it. He continued upwards, stalled and dove back down to the ocean. Astrid was screaming and holding onto me for dear life. And it hurt. A lot. She was squeezing the breath out of me.

Toothless dove briefly into the ocean and resurfaced. I had no say in what he was going to do. If I set the tail fin against what Toothless was doing, we'd drop like rocks into the ocean and never get back on land. Assuming we'd survive, of course. I had to find a way to slow him down. It was difficult, seeing as Toothless didn't seem to like Astrid a whole lot right now. I could only click the stirrup to the position that gave us flight. Flying where Toothless chose to go. Like back into the ocean for a brief second. Resurface. Toothless picked up speed, heading straight for the face of a cliff.

"TOOTHLESS, STOP!" I shouted. He kept on going.

Astrid grabbed onto me tighter, screaming. Toothless slowed down just enough to angle himself to jump off the rock wall. He climbed back into the sky at top speed. Stalled for a brief moment, allowing me to catch my breath. Astrid was still holding on tightly.

"Heh, he, uh, says he's not usually like this," I told Astrid as Toothless floated in the air. I didn't get a response from her, except for more screaming. I figured if Toothless kept this up long enough, she'd lose her voice for the rest of the day and not be able to scream in my ear.

Toothless made to bank to his left, so I prepared for it. Except he flipped upside-down in a barrel roll. He started a spinning dive, trying his hardest to throw Astrid into the ocean. He wanted her to pay for what she had done to me.

"…And now, the spinning," I said to no one in particular. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!" Toothless whipped his head back, smacking me in the face with one of his ear fins as he spiraled toward the ocean. I grunted, tears coming to my eyes from the pain.

"HICCUP, I'M SORRY! WHATEVER I DID, I'M SORRY!" Astrid shouted in desperation. Toothless was doing a great job of scaring her, although he could have scared her just fine on the ground. "JUST MAKE HIM STOP! PLEASE!"

Toothless did one more barrel roll toward the ocean. He stopped spinning and spread his wings. I clicked toe-up. Toothless slowed down enough to keep Astrid on his back. But Astrid was still stuck on me like green on grass. Toothless maintained control of his flight as he rose slowly into the sky. _This_ was what I had in mind when I had told him to get back down to earth gently.

"Um, Astrid. I think you can let go now," I said.

"No. He's gonna throw me off. Tell your _dragon _to land first." She slurred the word "dragon" out of irritation and fear.

I didn't say another word. I figured Astrid would eventually realize Toothless wasn't shamming and let go. I really wanted to breathe within the near future too. So I waited, following Toothless's lead. We were in sync again, flying around Berk without a care in the world. And we had a hostage as well.

"Astrid, I think there's something you want to see," I said.

"No thanks, I'm good." She was still hanging on tightly, but her arms were getting tired. I could feel it.

"Astrid, I'm not joking. Please, just open your eyes for a little bit."

"Okay, I did. Now get me down."

"How about looking anywhere except for the back of my head?" We were several hundred feet up in the air. Berk was down below. People were scurrying like ants, getting ready for supper. Most of the houses had fires going, casting a soft, dancing yellow light on the ground nearby. I could hold our entire island in my hand from up here. It was incredibly peaceful looking down on a home that I thought I knew extremely well. But I saw several cliffs that hadn't been explored. Areas of forests I had thought unreachable. And the other side of the mountain. I had never been over there.

"_Wow_," Astrid whispered. Her arms relaxed as she looked down, seeing the same Berk I was seeing. "I never thought I'd see Berk from the sky."

"Whatcha think?" I asked animatedly.

She took in the scenery for a short moment and said, "Okay, I admit it, Hiccup. This is pretty cool."

"Like you can hold the entire island in your hand, right?"

"It's just so…" She paused, waiting for the words to come to her. "Amazing. _He's_ amazing," she said, referring to Toothless. Astrid reached down and patted his side gently. He grunted softly in approval.

Toothless gained altitude again, flying into the clouds. We felt the mist caressing our skin, letting the water cool us off. And above the clouds, we could see every star in the night sky. The moon was a waning gibbous, just beginning to disappear.

"Hiccup, we can run away and fly like this every night," Astrid said casually.

"I wouldn't mind. I'm not ready for anyone else to find out about Toothless, anyway."

She giggled and wrapped me in a hug from behind. "I don't want this night to end."

"Yeah. Me either. I don't want tomorrow to get here." Both of us liked this flight, how peaceful it was above the clouds. We could leave any problem below us.

"Oh yeah, the final day is tomorrow," she pointed out. "You know you're gonna have to…" She paused, realizing that she was still on Toothless's back. "_Kill a dragon_," she whispered in my ear.

"Please don't remind me of that," I whined.

"I don't think you should do it, Hiccup. I mean, what if you brought your dragon with you and showed everyone he was nice?"

"It won't work. What was your first reaction when you saw Toothless?"

Astrid thought for a brief second. Whispered, "I wanted to kill him. And bring your father to see him."

"Do you honestly think the rest of Berk will act any different?"

"Maybe. I think it's worth a shot."

"I don't. I can't risk anything happening to Toothless."

"So is that why you wanted to leave today?"

"Pretty much," I replied.

"Hiccup," she said after a short pause. "Why do you call him 'Toothless?'"

"You'd never believe me if I told you," I said.

"Lemme guess. You're being sarcastic."

"Nope. His teeth are retractable."

Astrid was about to say something when Toothless's ears perked. He grunted and sped up. Astrid yelped and grabbed onto my midsection again. "What is it, buddy?" I asked. Toothless dove slightly, passing back through the clouds toward the earth.

Toothless had never flown like this before. He was never this directed by something, at least I had never seen him like this. He had a powerful sense of urgency behind his wingbeats. I just followed along with the stirrup, clicking as he shifted directions slightly.

We burst out of the clouds into a flying herd of dragons. Toothless almost crashed into a Monstrous Nightmare. He skreeled and abruptly switched directions, nearly throwing us off his back. The Nightmare just glared at Toothless and hissed. Toothless kept his place in the formation, letting us see what was going on. There were several hundred dragons flying toward an unknown place. It was foggy, but we could see each dragon was carrying something. Some were carrying sheep. Others had large fish. Others were team-carrying large animals like yaks.

"What are they doing?" Astrid whispered.

"Looks like they're hauling in the kill."

"Um, Hiccup. What does that make us?"

"Toothless would never do that to us. I hope." Astrid clung tighter to me, hoping I was right. "Toothless, you've gotta get us out of here." I touched the side of his head gently, but he shook my hand off and grunted. He was gonna give us first-row seats to something he wanted us to see.

"I really hope you're right, Hiccup."

Toothless dove slightly, closer to the ocean. Just like yesterday, we were avoiding rocks and spires left and right. If I thought the area around Berk was challenging, I didn't have a word to describe _these_ features. I could barely see anything, so I followed what Toothless was doing. "_Astrid, get down_," I whispered. She immediately did. I hunkered down in the saddle, letting Toothless guide us to what may very well have been our fates.

Toothless approached a rock face head-on. "Toothless, what are you…" I couldn't get the rest of the sentence out, because he barreled straight into a cavern with the other dragons. Astrid was hanging onto me like she was when Toothless wanted nothing to do with her. Now I was scared, just like she was. I had no idea what was on this island, but the echoes of all the dragons kept reverberating, bouncing off the walls. The cacophony of dragon grunts and roars was almost too much for me to handle. Astrid began panicking too, because I felt her arms start to shake from fear.

Out of all the crowding at the entrance, it was a minor miracle that Toothless never crashed, never met another dragon. I couldn't see his head in front of me. Too dark. I just kept trying to feel Toothless, trying to pay attention to what he was doing so I could adjust the tail fin.

We reached an opening in the cavern. I looked up. It was a volcano, if I had ever seen one from inside. The space was infinitely tall; there was no top and the bottom was a dull red-orange glow. It wasn't soft lights, like what dawn or sunset looks like. This was a dark, sinister, otherworldly glow.

Astrid and I had about two seconds to watch the proceedings before Toothless got there. Each of the dragons dropped their prey down into the red-orange glow and flew to a perch. Toothless flew over the same area, mimed dropping a prey item and landed on a stone ledge about midway up with a pillar in front.

"Well," I stated sarcastically. "It's sooooooo nice to know that all of our food has been dumped down a giant hole in a mountain."

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid observed. "What do you think is going on?"

"I have an idea, and I _really_ hope I'm wrong about it."

Toothless hunkered down, giving us a limited view of what was going on. The pillar was to our left, maybe about six feet in diameter, obstructing our view to the entrance of the volcano.

A Gronckle was last in. _Fitting_, I thought. We had known Gronckles to occasionally fall asleep while flying. It only made sense that the laziest dragon here would be a Gronckle. The dragon hovered over the pit and dropped a small fish, opening its mouth and letting it slide off its tongue. The fish couldn't have been more than four inches in length. Satisfied, the Gronckle closed its mouth and scratched behind its head while hovering.

Then we felt it. My idea was getting more and more correct by the second. A low roar, more felt than heard, reverberated throughout the cavern. The Gronckle looked down and panicked, giving a short bleat. _Too late,_ I thought. From out of nowhere, a massive head rose up from the depths with its mouth open. Its jaws snapped shut around the dragon and swallowed. Just like that, it was over. A lazy Gronckle paid the price with its life for not finding enough food.

"_What…is that?_" Astrid asked.

"What I hoped not to happen," I replied. Astrid whimpered in fear, knowing that if the dragon saw us, we'd be next.

The gigantic dragon rumbled deeply as it dropped back down into its chasm. I watched its throat vibrate as it vocalized. I could see its beady eyes, scanning the area for any more reasons to eat something. This dragon's head was probably five times the size of an adult Zippleback. Maybe bigger. Its teeth were probably five feet long…each. The dragon had almost a slow grace to its movements.

Its head stopped in its descent, right at Toothless's level. Like a Nadder, this dragon's eyes were on the sides of its head. One of them was looking straight at us. I could tell the dragon saw us because the pupil narrowed instantly. Astrid gasped and tightened her grip on me.

No time for hiding anymore. We just had to get the heck out of here. "Toothless, you gotta get us out of here, now!" I said. I gave him a nudge with my right heel.

He didn't need to be told twice. Toothless bounded to his left behind the pillar as the massive dragon roared, deafening both me and Astrid. The other dragons became jittery, trying to figure out what was going on. She held onto me, shaking from fright. My knuckles had gone beyond turning white from holding onto the saddle so tightly. The muscles in my hands began to cramp, which I knew was probably the one thing I didn't want to have happen in this emergency.

Toothless stopped directly behind the pillar. He was waiting. I knew what he was up to. Waiting for the dragon to take the bait. Toothless's breaths were coming and going quickly. This wasn't like when we were in the cove. There was no bellows-type sound. Toothless was on the verge of panicking. He was just as scared as we were.

"_Why is he stopping!?_" Astrid whispered.

I saw the dragon's snout peek around the pillar when Toothless grunted and whipped around. He took off immediately, flying around the giant dragon toward the entrance. The dragon snapped its jaws shut around the pillar, collapsing it. Several Nightmares were huddled together above us as their ledge collapsed. The dragon's jaws were open, waiting for the smaller sixty-foot dragons above. Only one became a meal. The rest were able to escape.

As Toothless aimed for the entrance, all of the other dragons took off, trying to escape. I hoped Toothless would live up to his name tonight: the Night Fury. Master of stealth and speed.

Somehow, Toothless was able to avoid the chaos of rushing dragons and streaked out of the cavern. The giant dragon snapped its jaws shut a few yards behind Toothless's tail. I heard a Zippleback's double scream as it was snared by the long teeth. Bones crunched like twigs as the Zippleback, nearly cleaved in half, was dragged to its end.

Astrid gasped as the cool night air hit her face, and she tightened her grip on me. I didn't mind, because it told me we were still alive. _Keep going, Toothless_, I thought. We had to get back to Berk.

After what seemed like an eternity of flying, Toothless landed in the cove. No crashing, no rough landing. Front feet first, followed by his back feet a split second later. Smooth as could be. Astrid wouldn't let go for a few seconds.

"Um, Astrid," I choked. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or from her squeezing me too tight again. "I think we're back on earth."

She looked around and let me go. Slipped off of Toothless's back. And promptly collapsed in a heap as her legs wouldn't work. She groaned as she found her footing.

I peeled my hands off the metal handles on Toothless's saddle and flexed them experimentally, trying to get any semblance of motion back. I dismounted, although my legs worked at least somewhat. My knees buckled, but somehow I kept my balance. I haltingly turned to Toothless, who was panting in deep, sharp breaths. Tonight's journey really took it out of him. I stroked the side of his head with shaking hands and said, "Thanks, buddy. You did great." He just continued panting, but looked at me in understanding.

All three of us rested for a few minutes, letting the panic work its way out. Astrid sat down in the grass and immediately sprawled on her back with an exasperated groan. I paced, trying to walk off the fear. Toothless just sat in his spot, watching me and Astrid protectively. I heard Astrid slowly stand after a few minutes.

"It totally makes sense now!" she blurted out suddenly. I turned to her and stared. "It's like a beehive. They're the workers, and that gigantic…_thing_ is their queen!"

"Yeah. So?"

"We've gotta tell your father about this." She began to turn toward the entrance of the cove.

That line was the one thing Astrid couldn't have said. I grabbed her by the arm and said, "No. No. Please, Astrid. Don't do it."

"Why?"

"They'll…" I paused, trying to gather myself. "They'll…" I trailed off. I couldn't finish the rest of the sentence.

"They'll what?" she prompted.

I sighed in exasperation. "They'll…kill Toothless." I couldn't hide the emotion any longer as my voice cracked on the word "kill."

"Hiccup, we just found the dragons' nest! This is the reason for all the dragon attacks. The one thing that Vikings have been looking for since they first sailed here. And you wanna keep it a secret? All for what? Your…" She paused in disbelief. "For your pet _dragon_?" This was too hard for her to get her mind around. "Are you serious?"

I closed my eyes for a little bit, thinking about how I was going to say it to her. But I had no other choice. I took a deep breath and looked directly into her eyes. Unwavering. "Yes." I let the moment hang, because there was no other explanation needed. Either Astrid would get it or she would go tell my father anyway and doom Toothless.

There was a short pause. "Okay," she said.

"Okay what?"

"I'm with you. I won't tell anyone about your dragon."

"Thanks, Astrid," I said. I felt completely relieved that Astrid was on board my ship called Insanity.

"But what are you going to do about it? You know the instant word about your dragon gets out, your father will want to know about the dragons' nest."

"Or do you think he'll just kill Toothless and shun me for the rest of my life?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hiccup, you really need to tell him. He'll know what to do."

"Astrid, listen to yourself talk! We are the only people on Berk who know about this. Nobody except us knows about what's on the dragons' island. We're the only ones who know about Toothless. My father will try to kill any dragon he looks at. If he finds the nest, he'll just march right in and try to kill that massive dragon. There is no way he's going to win."

"Okay, okay. I get it." She paused, thinking. Changed the subject slightly. "What are you gonna do about the dragon tomorrow?"

I sighed in defeat. "I don't know. Just…just give me until the morning."

She stood there in quiet understanding. This problem, which had intensified itself a thousand times, was way too much for any of us to handle. A few hours ago, it was just keeping Toothless away from the rest of the Vikings. Now the problem was three-pronged: I had to keep Toothless safe, had to figure out what in the world to do about the dragon tomorrow and how to break the news about the dragons' island. It was an assault of impossibility, just me, Astrid and Toothless facing the world.

A sharp jolt snapped me out of thought. It was Astrid punching me in the arm. "_That's_ for kidnapping me." I looked at Toothless, who was drinking out of the stream. He whipped his head slightly, telling me to hit her back. I rubbed the spot on my arm where she had hit me. That was going to be a bruise tomorrow. She slowly walked toward me. Kissed me on the cheek. Whispered, "That's for…you know…everything else." She turned and began the trek back to Berk, leaving me in stunned silence.

_That_ was totally unexpected. Toothless crept up behind me and was looking at Astrid as she walked away. His eyes were round. I heard him breathing, sounding like the bellows in the armory. I looked up at him and said, "Wh…what are you looking at?" He looked down at me and grunted in approval. He had to be teasing me about what Astrid had just done. He just _had_ to be.

I watched as Astrid made her way out of the cove. I wasn't going to follow. I had to stay here with Toothless. I couldn't make an unannounced entrance into my house this late after dark, especially after what the three of us had seen tonight. My father was going to be suspicious, but I couldn't think of anything else to do other than stay as far away from him as possible until tomorrow. I could give him the excuse that I wanted to prepare for the final day somewhere quiet, to collect my thoughts, to relax. But inside, I felt like tonight was the last night I was going to be alive before my execution tomorrow morning. And I wanted to spend it with Toothless.

"What do I do, Toothless?" I asked him. Toothless looked at me. Muzzled into my chest with a rumble, eyes closed. I guessed he was telling me to forget about it for tonight. For now, he was just happy that we had survived an encounter with the reason for all of the dragon raids. He was happy that I was okay, that I chose to spend the night with him. Toothless pulled his head back and looked at me with those caring round eyes. He rumbled softly, trying to get me to relax.

I couldn't get one thought out of my head, no matter how much I tried to follow Toothless's advice. The dragon tomorrow. Toothless lay down, looking at me. I shuffled over to him and propped my back up against his side, just behind his neck. And wrapped him in a hug. I let all my pent-up worry and fear spill out. "Toothless, I don't know what I'm gonna do," I told him. I felt small and helpless, knowing that no matter what happened tomorrow, I was gonna fail. I couldn't kill a dragon. Not after Toothless changed my life. But I'd be a pariah forever, holding the most important secret anyone could ever know about. And Toothless would be dead. It was an impossible ethical decision. No right answer. All of them wrong. And I had to decide tomorrow.

I hugged Toothless tightly, holding onto him like my life depended on it. And cried myself to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

Toothless woke me up, rumbling quietly. He was licking the side of my face. I woke up but couldn't open my eyes. The tears from last night had sealed them shut. I ripped them open, grunting in pain. I glanced around, finding a blurry Toothless looking at me with those comforting round eyes. Every time he looked at me like that, I felt more secure. I felt like he really cared about me, felt like he was gonna make sure that I was all right.

"Thanks, bud," I said blearily. Hugged him again. He murred softly, eyes closed. I listened to Toothless breathing. It sounded like the bellows in the armory. Inhale. Exhale. Pause. Inhale. Exhale. Pause. His rhythm was so relaxing to me. By the time I stood up, I felt better. More ready for today. Most likely, I wouldn't succeed, but there was that small glimmer of hope Toothless had given me. Maybe I could make it work today.

"I'll be back today. I promise," I said to him, my voice cracking from worry. I stroked the top of his head, listening to him murmur in contentment. Slowly, I made my way back to Berk.

I stopped in the armory and grabbed the breast-hat my father had given me. I was going to at least look the part today, even though there were no tricks up my sleeve. No bright shield. No garlic grass. No fingernails. No eel. Just my mind.

I tried my hardest to look like I was ready, but I just felt like I was going to throw up. I was scared to death, and it was getting worse every step of the way to the arena. It wasn't because of the dragon _per se_. It was the idea I had about what to do with the dragon. But what other choice did I have?

I heard a wild cheer rise from the stone ledges around the arena. At first, I thought it was for me, but then realized the crowd was facing the wrong way. Maybe they had eyes in the back of their heads? Looked closer. My father had stepped out of the great hall, onto the path leading directly into the stadium section of the arena. They were cheering because they were about to see one of the best dragon fighters Berk had ever known.

He waited for the crowd to quiet down. "Well, I can show my face in public again!" Most of the villagers gave a hearty chuckle. "If somebody would have told me that in a few short days, Hiccup would go from being…um, well…Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training, I would've tied him to a mast and shipped him off! He would've gone mad!" There was a consenting cheer rising from the crowd. I had gotten close enough to the arena to see him put his hands out to quiet them down. "But here we are. And no one is more surprised, or more proud, than I am. Today, we'll watch my son become a Viking. Today, he becomes _ONE OF US!_" A raucous cheer erupted from the crowd.

Amidst all the noise, I didn't want to be here. I was almost to the slope toward the gate leading into the arena when Astrid grabbed me by the shoulder.

"Hiccup, are you going to look up anytime soon?"

I sighed. "Eventually. As soon as I can get back to Toothless."

She lifted my chin with a finger and looked me in the eyes. I couldn't hide the worry on my face that something was going to go wrong today. "You can get to him later. What are you gonna do _now_?"

"Put an end to all this." I paused. Took a deep breath, placing my trust in her. I figured she understood at least a little bit what I was going through. "Astrid, if something…goes wrong, just please make sure they don't find Toothless."

She met my eyes and said, "I will. Just promise me it won't go wrong."

I wasn't sure if she was trying to bring levity to the situation, but whatever her goal was, it didn't work. "Astrid, really. Please. You're the only person I can count on."

"I will, Hiccup."

The gate opened, and Gobber stepped through. "All right, Hiccup. Are you ready?"

I looked at him and nodded. I knew I wasn't ready, but I had no choice. "I'll let you know if I'm ready after this is over," I said flatly.

Gobber chuckled and said with a grin, "Knock 'em dead." He motioned me inside. And closed the gate after I had passed underneath it. It was just me and my thoughts, which were far louder than the crowd would ever become.

There was one shield and a rack of weapons. I picked up the shield and looked at the weapons, trying to figure out which one might work best. There was a mace. Too dangerous. A double-bladed axe. Too sharp. A knife. Maybe. A wooden club. Puh-leeze. A small hatchet. Probably mine, but I wanted something different. A large hammer. Too heavy. My eyes settled back on the knife. I reached to pick it up, but my hand was shaking too badly. The knife slipped off its mount and clattered to the ground. I slowly bent down to pick it up, when my shield hit the ground, causing my chin to collide with the top edge. I snapped my head back in surprise, sending my helmet tumbling to the ground as well. Some of the audience gave a hearty laugh, like when a small child tries to stage a performance in public, looking "oh-so-cute." Others murmured, wondering if this oaf in front of them really _was_ the best trainee Gobber had just recently taught.

"Please, just get me outta here," I said under my breath. I grabbed the helmet and put it back on. Bent back down and grabbed the knife without further incident.

My father was seated on the other side in the stands. I heard him say to Gobber, "I would've gone for the hammer." Gobber nodded in assent.

I took one last look around the crowd. All of Berk was here. I saw the twins, Snotlout and Fishlegs sitting together. Snotlout and the twins had grins on their faces, ready to see dragon blood. Fishlegs was shaking nervously, about as bad as the time we had faced the Zippleback. The Elder was on the other side, not telling me what she was thinking. Her old age was good at hiding her thoughts. Most of the Vikings were eagerly anticipating my rite of passage. My father was sitting with Gobber, watching intently. I glanced backward, at the gate, where Astrid was standing. She had a slightly worried look on her face, but she nodded, telling me with her expression it was going to be okay. Even though I knew it was probably a lie, it made me feel a little better.

Two Vikings were staring at me, waiting for a signal. They were just outside of the arena, standing next to a winch. They controlled the lock for the dragon's door. I turned and faced them full-on. Nodded. "Okay," I said under my breath. "Let's do this." In the back of my mind, I was hoping for a Terrible Terror, but I knew we weren't that dumb. The Vikings here wanted to see a spectacle. Besides a Night Fury, I figured the dragon was going to be either a Deadly Nadder or a Monstrous Nightmare. Something that was aggressive and didn't hesitate to use its fire.

The two Vikings ratcheted up the bole that held the double door shut. The dragon on the other side began clawing and pounding on the door. This was way different than when Gobber had set the Gronckle on us. I heard a low roar emanate from the pen. I knew it wasn't a Nadder because it didn't sound like any dragon we had faced during training. This was way more intense than any other day we had in the arena. Another pound on the door. I saw it shaking from the force of the dragon. And the metal on the outside was starting to glow with a dull reddish color. I sighed, knowing this was probably the one dragon I didn't want to be around for today.

"Are you kidding me?" I mumbled under my breath. Any other dragon would have been fine, because I at least knew somewhat how to placate them. But not this one. Today was a guessing game, because Gobber had "forgotten" to teach us about _this_ dragon.

The bole passed the upper level of the door and it exploded open, fire coating the entire inside of the pen. And the dragon. This was a Monstrous Nightmare. It roared in anger at me and shot fire in my direction. I jumped to my left, waiting for the right time to start. The crowd gasped in suspense.

The Nightmare still had its fire jacket going as it climbed onto the chained ceiling, spouting fire out of the arena. Several Vikings had to jump out of the way as the pyroclastic flow passed them. The dragon climbed up to the top of the dome and leered down at me. I looked up, making sure it wasn't going to attack. Stepped a few feet back to give it room to drop. It roared again and slithered down to the ground.

I stayed my ground, not really glaring at the dragon, but not giving in either. I had my shield up and dagger ready, just in case. I knew once I committed to my plan, I couldn't stop. There was no interrupting to tell people what to do. I had to trust it was going to work like I had it in my mind. No second chance, no room for error. It had to be perfect. And most importantly, the Vikings here needed to be receptive to one of my ideas.

The red dragon slithered toward me, using the claws on its wings as a pair of front legs. It was glaring, rumbling menacingly at me. Making sure I knew it was ready to kill. I slowly backed away from the dragon, keeping the distance between us constant. I kept neutral eye contact and held my head slightly above my shield. And I made absolutely sure _not_ to show it my knife.

"Do it, Hiccup!" someone shouted.

"Kill it now!" another person shouted.

_No,_ I thought. The dragon looked like it had gotten over its angry spell enough to start my plan. I held my knife to my side, slightly away from my left leg, making sure the dragon saw what I was doing. I had caught its eyes with the weapon, because I saw it react slightly. It looked ready to attack until the knife left my hand. The second it hit the ground, the dragon went back to normal. Just glaring. Waiting. Anticipating. I brushed the knife away from us using my left foot.

I moved my shield away from my body, exposing my front to the dragon. Dropped it as well. The dragon was reacting exceedingly well to what I was doing. It knew what I was after. I just might succeed. _Come on, you can do this_, I thought.

"What is he doing?" my father asked. I just kept going.

The dragon saw my helmet and kept its eyes there. Slowly, I took it off, making sure to keep any quick movements out of the picture. I had to show it I wasn't a threat, had to let the dragon know it was in control. I dropped my helmet. The dragon let the helmet fall and hit the ground. No problem. It even looked slightly relaxed. Its eyes, normally piercing, had a softer quality to them.

I heard my father say, "Stop the fight."

I had to hurry my plan along after hearing my father say those words. Something bad was going to happen if I didn't. I just knew it. I reached my hand out to the dragon. _I can do this. Just like Toothless._ The dragon waited for me. I was inches away from its snout. It was sniffing at my hand, making sure I wasn't a threat. I kept my hand there, feeling the dragon's breath, waiting for it to decide. Just like I did with Toothless on that magical first evening.

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" My father jumped up, and that was where it all went wrong. He pounded his hammer against one of the three iron railings, cracking it. The hammer strike made a loud, sharp _PANG_, which reverberated around the arena several times. I felt it go through my head and chest like a shockwave.

The dragon's state of mind snapped. Its eyes went from friendly and calm to enraged. It opened its jaws just enough to snap over my hand, but I pulled away when I heard my dad's hammer strike. The dragon lunged for me as I jumped out of the way, now in sheer panic. I had an angry Monstrous Nightmare after me. And I was the only target nearby. No pillar to waste its fire on.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, trying to get away from the dragon and hide somewhere. It spewed fire at me as I had reached the wall and turned the corner, the fire plastering the wall where I had been maybe half a second ago.

"HICCUP!" Astrid shouted. She used her axe to wedge the gate open and slithered underneath. Ran over to the weapons rack and grabbed the hammer. Whirled and threw it at the Nightmare. A direct hit to the head. The dragon stopped in its tracks and roared in irritation. She saved my life by making the dragon focus on her. It charged as she jump-rolled out of the way.

The dragon saw me again, trying to edge away. Lunged again. I jumped toward the gate as my father lifted it open with one hand and shouted, "HICCUP! ASTRID! THIS WAY!"

Astrid dove through the gate without hesitation, but the Nightmare saw me. It plastered the wall in front of me with fire. I immediately stopped in panic. The dragon jumped, knocking me over with its snout. Its foot came down on top of my chest, claws holding me in a makeshift prison on my back. I tried to slide out from underneath its foot, but it started crushing my legs. I saw it leer as it pulled in a breath, ready to melt the skin off my bones with a deluge of lava.

From out of nowhere came a high-pitched ballistic scream. Somebody reflexively shouted, "NIGHT FURY!" The entire crowd ducked as the railing above the gate exploded. Another explosion just above me knocked the Nightmare back to the wall of the arena, filling the area with haze and smoke. I saw a black figure whip over my head toward the red dragon.

Toothless jammed the dragon against the arena wall and roared as he jumped back, letting the red dragon lunge. He launched a third fireball at the base of the Nighmare's neck, causing the dragon to stand up slightly. Toothless leapt forward, turning so that his back was to the ground. As the Nightmare dropped back to the ground, he grabbed its head with all four legs and violently wrenched on the dragon's neck. The rest of the Nightmare's body followed in contortion. The red dragon screeched in pain as I heard a few joints pop.

Toothless scrambled out from underneath the dragon, roaring in anger as he placed himself between me and the Nightmare. The dragon tried again to attack, and Toothless jumped forward with a vicious swipe of his front claws. They connected with the dragon's face, sending a spray of red Nightmare blood across the arena. The Nightmare reeled from the strike as its head crashed into the wall of the arena. The dragon slowly got up and cowered, now terrified of this angry Night Fury. Toothless roared again and jumped forward slightly, making sure the Nightmare knew he would kill it if it tried again. The Nightmare rushed back into its pen, avoiding eye contact with Toothless the entire time. For a few seconds, I thought it was amazing Toothless made such short work of the Monstrous Nightmare.

Toothless turned to me, still angry, but I knew I wasn't going to suffer like the other dragon did. He was protecting me. As my mind whipped back to the present tense, I shouted, "Toothless! Get out of here! NOW!" I tried to push his head toward the gate, tried to direct him out of the arena before something bad happened. He wouldn't budge. He saw my father and several other Vikings jump into the arena, thirsty for dragon blood. Each of them had the exact same thought: it would be legendary to kill a Night Fury.

I jumped between him and the Vikings and shouted, "No, Toothless! Go!" Toothless roared in anger again. He whirled and blasted a fireball at the ground in front of one Viking, causing him to stop. He wheeled around and saw the most formidable Viking on Berk: my father. Locked eyes with him. Toothless used his tail as a bludgeoning weapon and knocked two Vikings away in quick succession as he lunged around me, aiming for my father.

"Toothless! Stop!" I shouted, but it was no use. He was already airborne, roaring. My father saw the speed and strength of a Night Fury too late. Toothless shoved him to the ground with his right front leg and rolled once, pinning my father under both feet. The entire sequence lasted less than a second. I saw him draw in a long breath. This was no roar coming. It was a fireball, aimed at my father's head from point blank range. Toothless's eyes were wide in rage, and he wouldn't stop until all the Vikings he deemed a threat were dead.

"TOOTHLESS! _NO!_" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I ran toward him, trying to get in his field of vision before it was too late. His mouth was wide open, ready to deliver the fireball when he stopped, closed his mouth and looked at me in confusion with a soft grunt. He was asking me why I didn't want his protection.

I had only one thought when he looked at me. _We're dead._

Everything happened in an instant. Toothless was too distracted to see four Vikings coming from two sides. One of them was just fast enough to get to him first. The Viking rammed Toothless with his shoulder. I heard the dull _thunk_ made by his helmet crashing into Toothless's skull. I saw Toothless reeling in pain, unable to move. His eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth wide open. For a brief second, that image froze itself in time. I felt exactly what Toothless was feeling. The crushing pain thrumming throughout his neck, body and tail. The whiplash from an unexpected blow. Time resumed, and the other three got to Toothless a split-second later as my father backed away from him. They tackled him and two more Vikings joined in holding him to the ground. Including Snotlout, who was probably the most excited. Two of the Vikings slammed Toothless's head on the ground and held it there, while the other four corralled his body. He tried to fight free, but couldn't do it. Toothless looked at me in desperation, asking for my help, and I couldn't do a thing about it. I made a promise to my best friend, and then I betrayed him when he needed me most.

"STOP! LET HIM GO! HE WON'T HURT ANYONE!" I screamed, but it was no use. I ran toward Toothless, hoping I could get to him and protect him, like he had done for me. I took two steps and was jolted to a halt as a Viking wrapped his arm around my chest, holding me back from the one reason I had been living for the past week. I fought, screamed and kicked, all without getting away from the Viking's arm. I was stuck there, watching them capture Toothless for his execution. I had let the Vikings taste their first drop of dragon blood, and they weren't going to stop there.

"This thing has a saddle on it!" Snotlout shouted. "HICCUP'S BEEN KEEPING SECRETS!" He was giddy with excitement. "JUST WAIT 'TIL I KILL IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! I'M GONNA SPILL ALL OF ITS BLOOD AND _SWIM_ IN IT!" He had a sadistic grin on his face as he directed that comment at me. I was powerless to respond. I couldn't hide the tears streaming down my face as they dragged Toothless out of the arena for judgment. For execution. For me to watch them spill all of his blood.

Toothless was being paraded out of the arena when I finally snapped. All of my worry and fear about Toothless turned into anger as what started as a groan in my throat crescendoed into a scream. I brought my heel up into the Viking's knee, hearing a hollow _pop_ as my foot collided with his kneecap. He shouted in pain, releasing his hold on my chest to tend to his knee. Without thinking or checking to see if he was okay, I took off after Toothless in a desperate effort to get him away from Berk. I had just seen the last half of his tail when my father grabbed my arm and forcibly dragged me into the great hall. Going up the steps while watching my best friend become more distant took an eternity. While he dragged me up the steps, he shouted something about me kicking the Viking, but I paid no attention.

He threw me through the doors of the great hall, shouting, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, HICCUP!?"

My mind was moving too quickly to form anything that resembled a coherent argument. "Dad, you have to give me a chance to explain! Please. I shoulda told you about this when you got back…"

"WE HAD A DEAL!"

"I know, but…Oh, man, it's all so messed up!"

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED OUT THERE!"

"No, you don't understand! Please, just be mad at me," I implored desperately. "Take this out on me. I'm the one who started all this. Just please don't hurt Toothless."

"_That's_ what you're concerned about? The dragon? Not the people you almost killed?"

"He's not dangerous! He was just protecting me!"

"So everything in the ring, a _trick_? A _lie_?"

"I spent the last week taking care of him! I found out they aren't what we think they are! And I was going to show everyone that, but you had to scare it! Why!?"

"THEY'VE KILLED HUNDREDS OF US!"

"AND WE'VE KILLED THOUSANDS OF THEM!" I shouted back. "They're just trying to survive, that's all! They raid us because they have to! They don't eat our food during raids, I've seen it! If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves. There's something bigger on their island. It's got control of them like…like…"

My father cut me off in realization. "You've been to their nest?" he asked in an agitated whisper.

"Did…did I say nest? I don't know how we got there. Toothless was flying, and he took us there. Only a dragon can find it."

His eyes brightened almost immediately. He was putting two and two together.

"No, Dad. Don't do this. I promise, you have no idea what you're getting into. This is something you can't win." He pushed me out of his way, already heading toward the dragons' island. "Dad, FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!?" I shouted.

He stopped in the entryway with a hand on the door. Turned around. "You threw your lot in with them. You're not a Viking. You're not my son." He slammed the doors behind him, filling the great hall with an echoing crash. I slumped on the floor, reeling from what he had said. He shouted to the rest of Berk, "READY THE SHIPS!"

This was worse than I could have dreamed in ten nightmares. They had taken Toothless away from me. They were going to chain him up and use him as a compass to get to the island. If by some minute chance they succeeded, they'd come back and brutally kill Toothless in front of me as a statement to my futility on Berk. And I'd be a laughingstock for the rest of my life as Berk continued on. If they didn't win, everyone would be killed. Including Toothless. That gigantic dragon wasn't going to forget his treason. I'd be left as an empty shell with only a few people on Berk, shunned for life. No matter the outcome, it was all going to be because of something I did. Just like normal.

The doors to the great hall burst open. It was Astrid. "HICCUP!" she screamed. She was completely out of breath, her voice just as hoarse as mine. "Hiccup, you've gotta go out to the docks! Maybe you can get your father to let your dragon go."

I ignored her. Just stared at the ground, letting tears fall.

"HICCUP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" she railed. I didn't look up. It was no use for her. She stormed back out of the great hall, maybe to try and convince the Vikings Toothless deserved to live.

I slowly stood, tears running down my face. Walked out to the docks and saw Toothless shackled to a pallet. There were three thick U-shaped bars holding him in place. Two Vikings secured a large wooden collar hooked to the pallet with chains. They closed it around his neck, keeping Toothless from escaping his prison. He had a muzzle around his nose and mouth, preventing him from launching any fireballs. The two Vikings backed away quickly after trapping him, because Toothless thrashed around, trying to knock the collar off but couldn't do it. He slumped in defeat as they winched his cage onto a boat. My father was already there with a stash of weapons. He directed the Vikings lowering Toothless, brining the pallet to a halt on the boat.

"Lead us home. _Devil_," he said menacingly to Toothless. I saw Toothless lower his head as they cast off. It was going to be the last time I would ever see my best friend. I watched through tears as he was slowly dragged toward the horizon.

"Toothless, come back…" I whispered in delirium. All this hit me so fast I couldn't process it. I couldn't tell if my father and his crew had just dragon-napped Toothless mere moments ago or if he escaped the arena. For a moment, I knew exactly what it felt like to have dementia.

"Toothless, please. Come back..." I waited. No Night Fury. The surf crashed against the cliff faces at the docks, but I didn't hear it. The wind was blowing gently, but I didn't feel it. I only heard my thoughts and felt the loneliness settle over me like a tight blanket. I stood on the upper level of the docks, looking toward the north. It felt like a dagger had just ripped through my chest. Toothless was really gone.

* * *

There are several adages that are passed around Berk. All of them explain different things. One of them, I didn't understand until now. I never thought I would, simply because I had been so sheltered and protected by the rest of Berk. But now, I knew exactly what it was saying.

_When your friends are roasting on a spit, you are the one who feels the fire._

I felt everything that happened to Toothless. Like when the first Viking rammed into the side of his head. When he was pinned to the ground. When he was shackled up to be taken away for his "judgment." And I felt his hopelessness as he disappeared over the horizon. Today, I saw Toothless get demoralized and beaten senseless, yet I was the one who felt the humiliation and pain.

This didn't make any sense to me. I chose not to kill Toothless. I brought fish for him every day. I became somebody he could trust, even if it was just for a daily meal. I stayed with him when he was sick, making sure he was gonna be all right. I gave his wings back to him. I gave him unconditional care, love and support. And most of all, I gave him a second chance at life. Everything I did for Toothless, I did it because I thought it was right. Because he needed someone there with him. Because he deserved to live. It didn't matter to me that he was a dragon. To me, he was my best friend. I devoted my life to him for the past week. So why were Toothless and I the only ones being punished? I sighed, tears running down my face.

I heard the soft _clunk-clunk_ of footsteps on the wooden slats. They stopped just behind me. I didn't even look to see who it was. Didn't care. "It's a mess," Astrid said quietly. "You must feel awful. You lost everything, your tribe, your father, your best friend…"

"Thank you, Astrid, for summing that up for me," I said curtly, cutting her off. I kept my attention toward the north, thinking about my predicament. How I had gotten here. "Why didn't I kill him in the forest?" I asked the air in front of me. "If I would have killed him, none of this would've happened. Life would still be peaceful."

"Yep," she concurred. "The rest of us would've done it. So why didn't _you_?" she asked gently.

"I don't know." I said.

"That's not an answer."

"I…I couldn't."

"That's still not an answer."

I snapped, "Because I was a coward! I was weak!"

"Hiccup, you're not weak," she said.

"Do you know what I did after you left the cove last night?" I asked impatiently, turning to face her. She shook her head. "I just hugged Toothless and cried. Because I knew this entire week they were going to take him away from me. I knew the entire time they were going to kill him. And there was nothing in the world I could do about it. How is that not weak?" I wheeled around in disgust, looking again toward the open expanse of ocean.

"Hiccup, quit being sarcastic! I would've done the exact same thing if I were you last night!"

"No you wouldn't. You would have killed him a week ago. You'd never have to deal with the pain you feel when you know the choice you're about to make is the wrong one. You don't understand what it feels like when you know everything is going to be hopeless after that, but you do it anyway."

"What are you talking about?"

"I let Toothless go after I shot him down. I found him later and gave him a new tail. I stayed by his side when he was sick. For a week in my life, he trusted me. He accepted me for who I am. He became my best friend. And now I get to watch him die. Because I wouldn't kill him."

"You said 'wouldn't' that time," she pounced.

I turned to face her again. Threw my hands in the air. "Oh, for the love of…why is this so important to you all of a sudden!?"

"Because I want to remember what you say right here, right now. Why _wouldn't_ you kill him?"

"BECAUSE I'M _WEAK_! THAT'S WHY! THREE HUNDRED YEARS, AND I AM THE FIRST VIKING WHO WOULDN'T KILL A DRAGON!"

She paused. Said quietly, "First to ride one though."

My brain stopped. Astrid had a point there. We were the only two people in Berk who really knew about Toothless. And I had learned how to fly on a dragon. On my own. I took a deep breath, faced her and said, "I wouldn't kill him because he looked just as frightened as I was. I looked at him, and I saw myself."

She edged closer to me, saying quietly, "I bet he's really frightened now. What are you gonna do about it?"

I sighed and looked toward the north, where the ships had disappeared. "I don't know. Probably something stupid."

"Good, but you've already done that," she said, a smile beginning to play across her lips. Slowly, I turned toward her.

She was goading me. She was encouraging me to be…well, to be myself. To think like Hiccup would. "Then something crazy," I said definitively.

Astrid grinned. "_That's_ more like it. So what's your crazy idea?"

I tried to manage a small grin, but couldn't because I was still reeling from what happened to Toothless. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself and said, "I think we're gonna need the rest of our class. Make sure they each bring a basket with fish to the arena. And get them there quickly."

"Got it!" she called as she ran away.

I turned to walk toward the arena. Astrid dared me to think of a plan for this, and come hell or high water, I did. _This_ time, though, the idea actually had a remote chance of working. Because other people were in on it, and there was nobody to foul it up like my ex-father did last time.

I entered the arena and waited, my thoughts echoing around the walls. Just like Toothless did this morning, Astrid gave me a shard of hope to work with. Logic told me that this was never gonna work, that I would never be able to convince anyone besides me and her about what a dragon is really like. But something in my gut told me I could do it. The sliver of hope from Astrid.


	13. Chapter 13

_For once, please let one of my ideas work_. I stood in the center of the arena, looking at the doors holding the dragons at bay. Truth be told, I figured this idea had roughly the same chance of actually succeeding compared to the idea I had earlier today about the Monstrous Nightmare. Because other people were in on it. There was no way to predict how they were going to act, or if they would even follow my directions. Especially after they saw how I was living a lie about dragon fighting, keeping a "highly dangerous" Night Fury secret. Especially _especially_ because I was Hiccup, the not-to-be-taken-seriously son of the chief.

"If you're gonna get eaten, I'd suggest going with the Gronckle," a voice said from behind me. I whirled around to find Fishlegs in front with the rest of the teens just behind him. Each of them was carrying a basketful of fish, slightly out of breath.

Tuffnut strode up to me and said eerily, "You were wise to seek help from the world's deadliest weapon." Upon seeing the look of confusion on my face, he added, "Uh, it's me."

Snotlout pushed him out of the way, and said, "I. _Love_ this plan. When do we start?"

Ruffnut shoved her way into him, causing his outstretched fist to smack him in the side of the face. "You're crazy!" she exclaimed. Dropped her voice to a whisper. "_I like that._"

Astrid grabbed a horn on Ruffnut's helmet and moved her out of the way. "Okay, Hiccup. Let's start this 'crazy' idea."

I grinned slightly and looked around the arena. "All right. Let's move the weapons and shields to that corner," I stated, pointing to the side of the arena peppered with dried Nightmare blood. There were no doors in that section, so I could get all the dangerous tools out of the way.

Astrid and Fishlegs took the cue and gathered the weapons. They heaped them against the wall, where they would be out of the way. Snotlout took after them, trying to grab the hammer.

"Snotlout, let go!" Astrid shouted.

"No! I can't! How am I gonna defend myself if a dragon gets out? Everyone here _knows_ they're killing machines. Especially that Night Fury!"

"No, they're not," Astrid told him. "Hiccup's dragon looked ferocious because he was protecting him. I think if that dragon was a 'killing machine,' Hiccup would be dead by now."

"Yeah, but he almost killed half the Vikings on Berk," Tuffnut chimed in.

"Because Toothless saw them as a threat," I said.

"See?" Snotlout said. "Proves my point exactly. Dragons are always and forever killing machines. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home."

I blinked a few times, perplexed. "How does that non-logic prove _anything_?" I asked.

"It…it just does. I don't have time for arguing about stuff like…" He paused. I had a hunch where he was going with this bizarre argument. "Like, well, like…this," Snotlout said motioning in my general direction. I closed my eyes in irritation, hoping somebody, somewhere would eventually find a better descriptor of me and anything associated with me.

Snotlout began striding out of the arena when Astrid grabbed him by the forearm. "Oh no, you don't," she said. "You're gonna help us. Whether you like it or not." He stopped with a look of surprise on his face.

"Make me!" he shouted back.

Before Snotlout could do anything else to Astrid, Fishlegs quickly asked, "Snotlout, when was the last time you actually paid attention to Hiccup?"

Snotlout pause briefly, thrown mentally off-balance by this question. He slowly turned to face Fishlegs. "Uh, never. Why should I listen to…" He paused, searching once again for the right words to come to him.

Before Snotlout could continue, I interjected with an appropriate conclusion to his idea. "To all _this_?" I said with bitter sarcasm, motioning to myself in general.

"You said there was a saddle on the Night Fury," Fishlegs said. He had a look on his face that told us not to stop him, because he was about to get on a roll with an argument.

"Yeah," Snotlout said. "_Anybody_ could have made that. I coulda done it!"

Fishlegs scoffed at him and continued, "Did you know the dragon also had a prosthetic tail fin?" Fishlegs asked him. I perked, immediately interested in where this conversation was going.

"Uh, no."

"Did you also know the saddle was connected to the fin?"

"Why does _that_ matter!?" he asked.

"Hiccup could control that Night Fury's flight from the saddle. The dragon can't fly without him."

"What are you saying?" Tuffnut asked. Fishlegs had gotten everyone interested. We were all closing in on him, waiting for the climax.

"I'm just saying I defy anyone to figure out how to get a crippled dragon to fly again. From scratch! Hiccup did all of that. He made the saddle, the fin, the stirrup and the connecting line. Nobody else here, not even Gobber, could have done it! Hiccup gave that dragon a second chance at life when nobody else could. So why do you still want to kill dragons when the one person in Berk who _trained a_ _Night Fury_ is standing right in front of you!?" he asked pointedly.

Snotlout looked down. He had no answer. _Thanks, Fishlegs_, I thought.

"Hiccup, I give the floor to you," Fishlegs stated dutifully with a mock-bow. Everyone turned to face me, ready for my crazy idea.

I took a deep breath. "All right. Let's get started. We need to hurry, because what the Vikings are about to find is really bad."

"How bad is it?" Ruffnut asked.

"Oh, let's just say this dragon bit a Zippleback in half last night," Astrid said casually. All the color drained out of the twins' faces. I was shaken a bit mentally, seeing them react to what she said. Apparently, their love of destruction had a limit.

"So what are we gonna do?" Fishlegs asked meekly. He already knew where we were headed. And he had an idea of what we were up against.

"Somebody volunteer," I said. Nobody came forward. Not when they knew it meant putting their lives at risk.

Astrid was waiting for someone to move, and then pushed Snotlout forward. "I think _he_ should be first because he threatened your best friend," she said matter-of-factly.

"What? No! You can't make me!"

"Relax," she said. "Just do what Hiccup tells you."

"Okay, but if I die, I'm gonna kill you."

"I'd _love_ to see that," Astrid said sarcastically.

"You know what I mean," Snotlout grumbled.

"Are you finished?" I asked him. I waited for him to look at me. "Get a small fish."

He took a fish that was maybe six inches in length from his basket and said, "I want a hammer. I can't kill a dragon with a fish."

I couldn't miss this opportunity. "But you said you'd kill a dragon with your face." The twins seemed to remember that conversation several nights ago, because they collapsed, howling in laughter. Astrid even grinned a little. Snotlout grumbled in frustration, embarrassed that someone he deemed inferior had used his own words against him.

"Sit down here," I told him, motioning about six feet away from the Terror's door. Snotlout sat down, although I could see his mind thinking _This is crazy this is crazy this is crazy._

I walked over to the lever controlling the miniature lock and pulled it down. The Terror heard the lock disengage and snarled, ready to attack. It rushed out of its pen and hissed at Snotlout, the first target it saw.

"Snotlout, put the fish in front of the dragon."

Snotlout looked scared of the Terrible Terror, but tossed the fish just like I had wanted. It landed about three feet away from the dragon. Instantly, the dragon's expression changed. It went from ready for an attack to excited. It was getting free food. The Terror perked and rushed to claim the fish. It gulped the fish down and cautiously walked over to Snotlout, who was on the verge of panic.

"Whatever happens now, just don't move. The dragon won't hurt you," I said quietly.

Snotlout was trying his hardest not to budge, but his eyes told me that he was scared silly. The little dragon curled up next to his leg with a chuttering sound. No fire, no biting.

"Whoa," Snotlout said shakily. "This is so cool." The dragon continued looking around like it owned the place.

"Looks like you made a new friend," I said with a smile. I turned to everyone else. "This is how I gained Toothless's trust. With food."

"So, dragons will eat just about anything, right?" Tuffnut asked out of the blue.

I felt like I had just swallowed an anvil. I had forgotten to tell them about eels. "Um, kinda," I stammered. "Did, uh, did anyone just _happen_ to bring any eels?"

Astrid immediately faced me and said, "All right, Hiccup, what's the problem?"

"I, uh, I think dragons are afraid of eels," I said meekly. "I kinda forgot to tell you about that."

"_Are you serious!?_" Ruffnut asked. "That's all we brought!"

Brilliant. My idea was beginning to fall on its face. "It's all you brought because it's all that was left or because you chose only eels?" I asked pointedly.

"They only wanted eels," Fishlegs said quickly. "There was plenty of fish left in the hall."

My hand met my forehead as I cursed myself in frustration. "Okay," I sighed. "Dump all the eels over by the weapons. We won't be using them." Astrid and Fishlegs dug through their baskets and removed several eels. They walked over to the weapons and put them down.

Snotlout was petting the little dragon next to his leg. It was about to fall asleep when he said, "Sorry, little guy." Snotlout stood up, leaving the dragon looking around. The Terror grumbled slightly, wandered over to the wall and curled up there, out of the way. Snotlout removed several eels from his basket and placed them on the pile.

I was doing my best to look like I was impatiently angry with Ruffnut, because she just stood there in defiance. Eventually, she gave up and dumped the eels by the weapons, although I had a sneaking suspicion she hid at least one eel. It was a pretty strong hunch because I knew the twins were sadistic like that. "_All_ of them, Ruffnut," I said as severely as I could. Her shoulders slumped as she reached into the basket and tossed the last remaining eel onto the pile. "You'll have to share with everyone else. So can we do this without fighting?"

Without waiting for anyone to move, Astrid placed about a quarter of her fish into the twins' basket. And waited. "Is anyone else going to move, or do I have to _make_ someone move?" she asked loudly.

Fishlegs slowly placed some of his fish into the twins' basket. Snotlout followed suit.

I sidled up to Fishlegs while Snotlout was busy and asked quietly, "Which one is the Nadder?"

He fixed me with a confused look and said, "Tall, blue-and-white dragon with excellent binocular vision…"

"No, no! Which _door!?_"

"Oh," he whispered in realization. "That one," he said pointing to my left.

I walked over to the door, turned around and said, "Astrid, you're first. Bring your basket. Everyone else, get out of the way." I motioned to my left, toward the pen that formerly housed the Terrible Terror. The rest of our ragtag group shuffled in that direction.

Astrid picked up her basket and brought it over. I placed it about fifteen feet away from the door, directly in front. "Stand here," I said, making her stop next to her basket. Flipped the lid open so the dragon would be able to see the fish.

I walked over to the lever and leaned all of my weight on it. The lever slowly pulled down, finally clicking, opening the Nadder's double door. The dragon jumped slightly, bonking its head against the ceiling and staggering out slightly with a confused warble. I must have taken it by surprise. But we had to act quickly, or else the dragon would get distracted. "Astrid, hold a fish up for the dragon to see," I said.

Without saying a word, Astrid picked up a large fish and held it skyward. The dragon noticed and ran over to Astrid. "Don't move," I commanded. The dragon cautiously sniffed at the fish and checked to make sure Astrid wasn't a threat. It snagged the fish's tail and gulped it down.

"Tip the basket over," I said quietly. Astrid pushed the basket over, spilling the fish for the Nadder to see. It gave a loud warble and stomped over to claim its prize. Astrid whimpered slightly and backed away, but I said, "Stay there. The dragon needs to know you're giving it something to eat." She stayed there.

The Nadder cleaned up the fish and cackled happily. It looked around, finding Astrid standing right there. The dragon crouched slightly to look her over. Astrid tensed, trying to hold back her fear and desire to kill the dragon in front of her. I needed to make sure the dragon wouldn't lose interest in Astrid.

Something in my mind clicked. "Scratch it underneath its chin," I whispered to Astrid.

"Are you serious!?" she asked. I nodded without saying a word.

Hesitantly, she reached under the dragon's chin and scratched. The Nadder's eyes immediately lost focus as it murmured in satisfaction. Without warning, the dragon fell to the ground and sighed. I smiled at Astrid. She looked back at me in disbelief.

"How did you know that?" Tuffnut asked.

"Everything I know about dragons I learned from Toothless." I listed what I had learned from him. "They like to be scratched under their chins. They like garlic grass. They are afraid of eels."

"Is there anything else?" Ruffnut asked.

"Well, above everything else, your dragon wants to know that it can trust you."

"That's it? Just don't hurt it?" Tuffnut said.

"_With its life_," I added.

Astrid looked at the Nadder, who was still collapsed in a heap on the ground. She walked over to it and gently placed a hand on the side of its snout. The dragon paused for a second before relaxing again. We watched as the Nadder sighed and licked her forearm.

"Looks like it worked," I observed.

Astrid stood up, and the dragon followed. It gently nudged her in the back with its snout, making her step forward. She turned around to face the dragon again. It warbled softly, probably telling Astrid that she was okay.

"What does that mean?" Astrid asked, still facing her dragon.

"The dragon's saying it can trust you."

Astrid turned around with a wry smile on her face and said, "Okay. Who's next?"

"I vote Ruffnut and Tuffnut!" Snotlout said a little too obviously. I went with his suggestion because this one was an easy match.

"Fishlegs," I started. If gravity wasn't working, he would've jumped about twenty feet in the air. He thought I was abruptly volunteering him next. I laughed on the inside and asked, "Where's the Zippleback?"

"Uh-uh! No way!" Tuffnut shouted. "There's no way he can handle a dragon with two heads!"

"I know," I replied with a small grin. "That's why you and Ruffnut are here."

The twins paled at the same time. "Uh…what?" Ruffnut asked, not totally comprehending what I had just said.

Fishlegs grinned and said, "The Zippleback is behind the twins. I'm perfectly happy with that."

With enough fuss to last for a few days, I placed the twins about eight feet apart with their baskets in between them. All I wanted was no bickering. Walked over to the lever and put my hand on it. "Please, no fighting. No arguing. Okay? Open your baskets. When the dragon comes out, tip them forward."

"Great," Ruffnut said sarcastically.

I pulled the lever down, and the Zippleback came pounding out. "Now, guys!" I said.

The twins pushed their baskets over so the dragon could see both catches of fish. The Zippleback stopped in its tracks. Both heads craned down to investigate the newfound meal. The dragon cleaned up both piles and looked at the twins. No hitch. No problems. "Let the dragon come to you," I said. Each head was checking out a twin. Ruff and Tuff were actually taking this decently. Well, about as decently as expected when a massive dragon is moving toward someone. Maybe the experience was so transformative they couldn't find time to argue. Either that or they were scared out of their wits, because both of them were standing ramrod straight with petrified looks on their faces.

After a few seconds, the dragon lumbered up to the twins and stayed there. They seemed to slowly come back to reality, because both of them shuffled up to the dragon and placed a hand on each flank. Tuffnut noticed his twin from across the Zippleback and said, "Hey, I got here first! This is my dragon. Beat it!"

"Hey!" I said. "I thought I told you no fighting. You have to set an example for your dragon. If it sees you fighting, you'll never be able to get near it." Tuffnut grumbled in frustration, realizing he'd have to work with his sister. "Can I leave you two in peace for ten seconds?"

"Yes," Ruffnut said with a sigh.

"Fishlegs, you're next," I pointed to him. I knew I wanted to save the Nightmare for Snotlout because I was still irritated with his comments about Toothless. That part of me wanted revenge, and I gave into it. By process of elimination, Fishlegs's dragon was gonna be a Gronckle. I knew which door was the Nightmare's because I had just seen it rush back into its pen not two hours ago. The only other closed door housed the Gronckle.

I put Fishlegs about fifteen feet away from the door, off to the side a little. This one was gonna be trouble. I had a hunch the dragon would come racing out of its pen and crash into the wall on the other side of the arena. Where Astrid and her dragon were standing.

"Astrid, move your dragon out of the way." She nodded and pushed slightly on the Nadder's leg. It began walking with her, making soft chirps along the way. "That's good," I called. They stopped, hopefully out of the Gronckle's path. The Nadder cocked its head and warbled slightly, looking at Astrid. She grinned and stroked it on its flank.

I pulled the lever down, this time coming off my feet. The Gronckle snarled and came rushing out of its pen, past Fishlegs, past Astrid and her dragon, and collided with the wall. "You'll have to go get the Gronckle," I said to Fishlegs. "Take your fish with you."

Fishlegs gingerly picked up his basket and tip-toed his way to the dragon. "Thaaaat's it. Nice dragon," he whispered.

"I said you'll have to _approach_ your dragon," I reminded Fishlegs.

"D-don't rush me," he stammered as he put his basket back down. At that moment, the Gronckle turned around and glared at Fishlegs. He gasped and stood stock-still, hoping the dragon wouldn't see him.

"Tip the basket over," I said.

"I-I can't."

"Well, I can't do it for you, Fishlegs. This is _your_ dragon."

Using his foot, he slowly tipped the basket, spilling the fish. The Gronckle noticed and hovered over. It landed with a slide, knocking the basket out of the way. Fishlegs _eeped_ and jumped away from the dragon.

"Walk to its front," I told him. Fishlegs groaned in irritation and fear, but shuffled over to the dragon's front. The Gronckle finished its meal and looked at Fishlegs. It lumbered over to him, sniffed and gave him a lick. Three down.

Which left Snotlout. "Guess which dragon you get," I told him as I grabbed his basket. I put it down and pointed for him to stand next to it.

"Are you kidding me!?" he said immediately. "I get a four-foot long lizard, while everyone else gets a _real_ dragon!?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll be right back," I said. Walked out of the arena.

"Where is _he_ going?" Snotlout asked.

The Nightmare's ratchet was controlled by a two spoked wheels. It was easiest to open with two people, but one could get the job done. I couldn't let any of the others leave their dragons, so it was just me. I cranked on the wheel, hearing the ratchet click. Eventually the doors swung open, revealing…

"Uh, Hiccup, is this a joke?" Snotlout asked.

"Why? Is there no dragon inside?"

"Well, yeah there is. But it's dead."

"Oh, no," I whispered. I sprinted back into the arena and saw the Nightmare lying on the stone floor, facing away from Snotlout and me. I was so close, and this had to happen? Looked at the dragon closer. It was breathing steadily. "It's not dead," I reassured him. I tried to guide Snotlout into the pen. He dug his heels in, resisting. "Snotlout, seriously. We're running out of time here!"

"No. Your Night Fury just kicked this dragon's butt. It'll bite my head off in two seconds."

"No it won't. Toothless isn't here. Just bring the dragon a fish."

"Toothless? _That's_ what you call him? He had plenty of teeth when I saw him!"

I sighed. "They're retractable. Are you gonna do this or not?" I asked insistently.

Snotlout angrily took a deep breath and grabbed a fish without looking from his basket. Trudged into the pen. Held the fish near the dragon's snout. The dragon sniffed at it before gingerly taking the fish from Snotlout's hand. It swallowed and put its head back down, defeated. "Uh, Hiccup, I think this dragon's in a lot of pain right now."

"From what?" I asked. "Where Toothless hit him?"

"I think so. He's bleeding really badly."

I saved my idea from derailing several minutes ago with the eels, but this just might have been something we couldn't do anything about. "Do we have anything that can act as a bandage?" I asked the rest of the group.

"How about my shirt?" asked Tuffnut. I wrinkled my face in disgust.

"I'll be right back!" Astrid called. She ran off to get something, leaving her dragon. The Nadder warbled in curiosity, wondering where she went.

"Hurry!" Snotlout called.

I walked into the pen and saw the floor covered in Nightmare blood. The dragon had three open gashes in its face, just behind its snout on the right side. All three were oozing blood.

Astrid came tearing back into the arena after about five minutes with a bucket of water, a large sponge and several makeshift bandages. They were seaweed pressed between sheets of leather.

"Okay, let's do this," I said with a deep breath.

"Uh-uh," Snotlout said, his hand up. "All of you got your own dragons. I think I should take care of this one." He grabbed the tools from Astrid.

Astrid smiled at me knowingly as Snotlout went to work, gently scrubbing the Nightmare's wounds. The dragon groaned softly, probably telling Snotlout it was in pain, but he paid it no mind. He continued working, slathering the seaweed over the Nightmare's snout. He placed the leather sheets over the seaweed to seal the wounds. Ran back to his basket, grabbed it and tipped it over in front of the dragon. The Nightmare took its time eating as Snotlout stood within its eyesight. The dragon finished, turned to Snotlout and licked him with a low murmur.

"Hey, this dragon thing is kinda cool!" Snotlout said.

"_Kinda_ cool?" Astrid countered. "Just wait 'til you meet a Night Fury."

"I already did," he said, striding out of the pen.

"I think she means without an intent to kill, Snotlout," I said. While he was prancing toward me, the Nightmare stood up and crawled out of its pen. Following Snotlout.

"What are you looking at?" he asked. I pointed. He turned around and jumped slightly. The Nightmare muzzled into his chest with a low rumble. "Uh, is this good?" he asked.

"Very," I replied, walking toward a large open box that contained several odds and ends. Rummaged around and produced five of the longest pieces of rope I could find.

"Hiccup, what are those for?" Astrid asked.

"Flying," I said quickly. The only other person who was excited about this besides me was Astrid. Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins backed away almost immediately. "Before anyone says anything," I announced preemptively, "we're heading toward the dragons' island. I've gotta help Toothless…"

"_That's it?_" Ruffnut interrupted.

"…And we need to figure out a way to get the Vikings away from there. Or help them."

Astrid grinned and said, "Let's get started."

I doled out the ropes. "Okay, first things first. Fishlegs and Astrid, your ropes will go underneath the dragons' chests. As for Snotlout and Ruff and Tuff, they'll go around the necks. Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, _make sure they are not too tight._ Unless, of course, you want to earn a quick fireball to the face."

"So…what? Do I tie myself to the dragon?" Fishlegs asked.

"No, the rope is for you to hang on to. You'll be able to stay on the dragon just fine." As soon as I had cleared up that point for Fishlegs, the rest of the teens went to work putting the ropes around their dragons. The twins weren't fighting, Snotlout wasn't complaining and even Astrid was helping Fishlegs. This experience really _was_ too good to be true. Man, I couldn't wait to start heading north.

I returned my attention to the five people and four dragons in front of me, noticing we all were ready to go. Everyone was on their dragons. I walked over to Astrid, whose Nadder crouched down slightly to help me get on its back. Astrid pulled me up as I swung my leg over.

"Okay, is everyone ready?" I asked. Astrid had an eager look on her face. The rest of the teens were probably thinking _Just get it over with_. "Astrid and I will lead. Use your knees and feet to tell the dragon where to go. _And be gentle._"

Without waiting because I was too ready to go, I nudged the dragon with my heels. It clopped out of the arena with a soft warble and took off. I checked behind me and Astrid to make sure everyone else was coming. There was Snotlout on the Nightmare, the twins on the Zippleback and Fishlegs on the Gronckle bringing up the rear. Perfect. We turned north. Toward an island I wasn't entirely sure existed until last night.


	14. Chapter 14

"This is taking so much longer than last time! Are we even headed in the right direction?" Astrid asked me from in front.

"I sure hope so," I replied.

"HICCUP!" Tuffnut shouted. "WE DON'T HAVE ANY WEAPONS! WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE GET THERE?"

"_IF_ WE GET THERE!" Ruffnut added.

"There will be weapons on the island! The other Vikings are probably there by now," I shouted back.

I thought about Astrid's comment. It _was_ taking a lot longer to reach the island. There was nothing in sight for us, not even fog. No smoke. Just a blank expanse of ocean. I was sure we were headed north. It was just past noon, and the sun was on the left side of my face. That was all I knew. My father had guessed the dragons' island to the north, so that was the way he always went with the Vikings. But even after Toothless took me and Astrid there, I still had no idea where it was. It just happened so quickly I couldn't figure out which direction we were headed last night.

Last night. I shuddered, thinking I wouldn't see Toothless again. "Astrid, we need to hurry," I said. No reply. She was tuning me out when I said that, not unlike about ninety-nine percent of the time on Berk.

"Hey, has anyone seen Snotlout!?" Fishlegs shouted.

"Yeah, he's headed thataway," Ruffnut said casually. "Should we let him go?"

I scanned to my left. Found a small version of Snotlout and his Monstrous Nightmare. They were a good ways from Astrid and me, headed northwest.

"D'ya think he's onto something?" Astrid said.

"Maybe. Let's follow him," I said back. I raised my right arm and motioned the twins and Fishlegs to follow.

Astrid nudged her dragon with her right knee, causing it to turn slightly to the left. I felt something coursing through the Nadder. Its speed increased with a sense of urgency. "I think we're about to find it!" she shouted. The dragon squawked as it picked up the pace even more.

We were almost caught up to Snotlout when he turned around and shouted, "I have no idea what he's on! He just turned all of a sudden and sped up! Does he even know this isn't the right way!?"

I pointed straight ahead. We _were_ headed the right way. A towering wall of fog that looked all too familiar to both me and Astrid was straight ahead.

Snotlout turned back around and shouted, "GEEZ! TURN BACK!" He shoved his knee into the Nightmare's side, but the dragon wouldn't do anything except fly straight. Snotlout and his dragon disappeared into the mist a split-second before Astrid and I did.

I realized Fishlegs and the twins weren't too far behind us when Tuffnut shouted, "I can't see anything! Including Ruffnut, which is awesome!"

"Idiot! I'm right here!" Ruffnut countered. They broke into an argument. I could have sworn that was one of their favorite pastimes, besides Hiccup hunting, especially if there was nothing else to do. I just sighed, not caring about their antics right now.

Astrid let her dragon guide us in the fog. I wasn't sure if the dragon could see or if it just knew where to go. Either way, the Nadder was avoiding everything without any problem. All of a sudden, the dragon squawked and stalled briefly. It hung vertically for a beat and swerved around something I guessed was unfamiliar. I heard a low _whoosh_ on my right and glanced, seeing an intact boat with the Berk crest lodged in the rocks.

"Well, if Gobber and your dad were wondering where their boats went, here they are," Astrid said dryly.

We saw a rocky beach just ahead, where the fog was clearing. Snotlout and his dragon had already landed. We followed suit with Fishlegs and the twins, who were still arguing, about ten seconds behind us. All four of our dragons were breathing heavily, probably from carrying people on their backs and necks. We waited for them to regain their wind before setting off around the island to find the Vikings who were probably here already.

"Which way do you think we should go?" Fishlegs asked.

I looked around. We were standing on the beach staring at a ridiculously steep mountain lodged in the middle of the island. We could go left or right, but that was it. "Um…" I wasn't sure. I took a few steps to my left, as if I could see around the mountain from my new location. I saw more mountain, if that counted for anything important.

I noticed something truly profound was going on when all the sound from the twins stopped. They were arguing about who was the better rider when Tuffnut's eyes widened and focused on something in the distance. To my right. "Whoa, check it out!" he said, pointing. "There's, like, a mass migration going on."

I turned and saw a cloud of dragons a few hundred yards away. They were leaving the island as a mob. It reminded me of last night, when Toothless had miraculously gotten us off this island alive.

"Oh, no," Astrid and I said at the same time. We exchanged worried glances.

"What?" Snotlout asked. He looked in the same direction as the twins. "Why are they migrating?"

"They're not," Astrid said. "Dragons don't migrate."

"And just _how_ do you know that?" Snotlout prodded.

"They're leaving because the giant dragon is about to go on a killing spree," I said quietly. "Guys, we've gotta go. _Now_."

"Back to Berk? That's perfectly fine by me!" Snotlout shouted. He ran toward the Nightmare.

Astrid grabbed him again, gave him a death stare and said, "We need your help. _Now_."

"Okay, okay. I was just joking! Sheesh."

At that moment, a low, bellowing roar echoed across the island. I saw a few stones on the beach vibrating from the sound. "I think this thing knows the rest of Berk is here," I said. The dragons around us immediately became restless. They shuffled around on the rocky beach, murmuring about their anxiety. But none of them left the ground, which I thought was curious. They had a horde of their brethren not three hundred yards away, but they stayed on the ground, near us.

Without saying another word, Astrid and I climbed onto the back of her Nadder. The rest of the teens followed just as silently. We were about to take off when the dragon warbled at something and spread its wings slightly. There was no tensing for takeoff, no sign we were headed anywhere. We heard another warble come from the air about fifty feet away, followed by a skidding crash. A purple-backed Nadder landed in front of us with several open gashes. They were oozing blood, so whatever happened to the dragon was recent. A long, sharp tooth, maybe five feet in length, was sticking out of its side. The injured dragon stood, wobbled unsteadily and collapsed on its right side, the one with the protruding tooth. The dragon's weight forced it clean through its left flank, bursting the skin in a crimson spray. The dragon's eyes remained open but glassy, leaving us with a chilling image of what we were about to meet.

"Oh, gods, I didn't need to see that," Fishlegs said, and hurled in front of everyone.

I looked at the rest of our ragtag group and noticed that short of being sick, we were all scared out of our wits. Seeing this dragon as a preamble to what was coming only made me think that Snotlout had the right idea of flying back home.

Astrid's Nadder slowly walked up to the dead dragon and sniffed at the fang that was sticking out of the dragon's hide. It snarled and tensed, ready for flight.

"Astrid, whatever happens, trust your dragon," I told her softly. She nodded and tightened her grip on the rope.

The Nadder took off, headed on a beeline toward the source of the roar we had heard. We saw the gigantic dragon topple part of the mountain as it ripped through the rock. The dragon hoisted itself through the mountainside with boulders cascading down its flanks and back. Even though we were several hundred feet away, this dragon was still massive. Probably a hundred feet tall even when standing on all fours and about three hundred feet from snout to tail tip. It was mostly grey with ridges and plates on the back of its head that reminded me of coral. It had several rows of ridges extending along its back and tail, ending with a large oblong-shaped club. We thought dragons like the Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare or even the Night Fury were perfect killing machines. Not anymore. This ginormous beast redefined that idea.

"Oh, yeah," Ruffnut said with a grin. "I want one of those."

The dragon roared at the beach, where we noticed six ships, each with the Berk crest on the sails. The Vikings had already landed and set up several traps, such as sharp stakes pointed toward the mountain. There were several catapults on the boats, launching boulders at the dragon. Vikings were scurrying like ants in every which way, except toward the dragon. Some were trying to get back to the boats in an effort to get the catapults ready. Others were running to either side of the monstrosity, trying to get away.

"HICCUP! MAKE THIS DRAGON GO FASTER!" Astrid shouted.

"I can't!" I shouted back, but I gave it a firm nudge with my knees anyway. No change, except for a squawk.

The dragon planted its feet on the rocky beach just short of the wooden stakes the Vikings had set up. Craned its neck to the left and drew in a gaping breath. A flood of yellow fire shot out of the dragon's mouth, where it either incinerated the boats or violently hissed as it met the water. The dragon swept the flaming torrent across all of Berk's ships, now dooming the Vikings to their unexpected fate. Fear gripped my chest as I realized this dragon was going to kill just because it could. I thought the Nightmare Snotlout was riding didn't show mercy when I was pinned under its foot, but this monster let everyone know "mercy" was not a word. There was no warning at all, the dragon just crashed through the mountain and began destroying.

After what seemed like a minute of fire, the dragon stopped and inhaled again, about to immolate any Vikings it might have missed. There was no way they could escape once the dragon started again.

I glanced at the burning ships, hoping to catch a glimpse of Toothless. I was praying to the gods he was still alive. As we approached the massive dragon, an idea began to take form, but it all hinged on me getting to Toothless. While he was still alive. No Night Fury on the boats, as far as I could tell. But we had to do something about the beast in front of us _now_.

"FISHLEGS!" I shouted turning back to him. "HIT IT IN THE NECK! YOU GOTTA STOP IT!" I knew with our choice of dragons available, the Gronckle was the only one to pack enough punch with a fireball to stop this thing momentarily.

Without thinking, Fishlegs kneed his Gronckle from both sides and shouted, "NOW!" The Gronckle shot a solitary fireball toward the dragon. I watched it drop slightly before it collided with the dragon in the side of the neck. It stumbled to its left in shock. Only a small flare came out of its mouth, directed harmlessly upward.

As quickly as I could, I shouted, "Fishlegs, break it down!"

"Heavily armored skull and tail made for crushing and bashing! Small eyes, large nostrils, probably relies on hearing and smell! Steer clear of boat!" I looked at the dragon again and saw that it had snagged a boat with its mouth and was ready to toss it to the side, where it saw a few Vikings.

"Okay, you heard him! Snotlout and Fishlegs, see if you can distract it! There are weapons on the boat closest to us! Ruff and Tuff, see if it has a shot limit! Make it mad!"

"_ALL RIGHT!_" the twins shouted in unison.

As the dragon shook off its surprise, Astrid and I were the first to cross in front of it on the Nadder. Ruff and Tuff were second, Fishlegs third and Snotlout fourth. Snotlout shouted to the Vikings below, "WE'RE ON DRAGONS! WE'RE ON DRAGONS! DON'T SHOOT!"

Astrid and I flew close enough to the ground to see my father and Gobber simply staring upward in disbelief. "Every bit the stubborn, boar-headed Viking you _ever_ were…" Gobber remarked. My father slowly nodded in assent.

I tapped Astrid on the shoulder and pointed toward the boats, which were still on fire. We had to find Toothless. That was the only goal for me. Fishlegs and Snotlout found a few weapons lying on the beach, which previously belonged to other Vikings. I wasn't sure about the Vikings' condition, but Fishlegs and Snotlout would be putting the weapons to use anyway. They scooped up a shield and hammer each and jumped back onto their dragons.

Astrid's dragon immediately banked to our right and swooped over the coastline, giving us a look at the contents of the boats without exposing us to the heat and smoke. We flew past the first boat, which was beginning to list dangerously. Nothing could have stayed on its surface, looking at the tilt. The second boat was still intact with several weapons that were gonna be scrap iron very soon. But still no Toothless. The third boat contained what was left of the catapults. They were beginning to collapse under the strain of so much weight on burning wood. The fourth boat contained a lone black figure trapped in a makeshift prison of three U-shaped bars and a wooden collar. It looked at me and gave a short, desperate roar. Toothless. We found him.

"Astrid, there!" I shouted, pointing at Toothless. Her Nadder banked toward the boat and hovered just as the mast from another boat toppled over, splitting Toothless's boat into two. Toothless shrieked in horror as his pallet went sliding into the water. Just before he met the water, he looked at me pleadingly, hoping I wouldn't betray him again.

The Nadder landed on the beach as I looked toward the monstrous dragon who was still terrorizing the Vikings in front of it. However, Ruff and Tuff flew just barely in front of the dragon, making it shoot a short blast of fire at the Zippleback. The double-headed dragon sped out of the way as the gigantic dragon watched it, like it was an irritating fly to a cat. It was what they did best.

Snotlout and Fishlegs were on their way upward, toward the sides of the dragon's head. They began pounding their shields, trying to faze the dragon. The ruse was working because the dragon had snagged another boat and was ready to throw it. Instead, it just mindlessly crunched the boat to splinters, unable to mount an attack.

I jumped off the Nadder and sprinted toward Toothless, mumbling, "No, not twice. Please, don't take him twice…" I barely reached the water's edge just as his prison capsized into the water and stayed upside-down. He was trapped that way because the bars were too heavy to stay on top of the water. I splashed into the water and dove underneath, trying to find Toothless before it was too late. Opened my eyes and realized salt water burns like crazy on your eyes. Amidst the pain, I saw an upside-down Toothless looking at me with a pleading expression. I swam over to him and removed the muzzle without too much effort. Looked at the collar. No way. That thing was bolted several times over to itself. I couldn't get it open without the right tools. And I knew for sure Toothless didn't have enough time to let the iron rust over. I looked at the chain attachments, where they were bolted to the pallet only one time each. If I could just get both of them off, we'd be in business.

Using the chains to guide my hands up to one of the bolts on the pallet, I worked at the bolt with my left hand, but I couldn't get any strength on it. Too tight. The water was beginning to show a red tint from where the bolt was ripping my skin open.

All of a sudden, the water began to turn from cold to warm as everything went fuzzy. I felt Toothless nudge at my chest before someone pulled me out of the water. I couldn't see a thing from the salt water and the blurriness, but I knew it was a Viking who had just taken me away from Toothless. Again. I had let him down twice in the same day. The Viking almost threw me onto a large boulder on the coastline, knocking enough wind into me to cough. I spat out several mouthfuls of water and gasped, pulling in precious air. A splashing sound in front of me heading toward Toothless's pallet caught my attention. It was my father. He pulled in a quick breath and went under.

_What is he doing?_ I thought. My mind was still too blurry to think of anything except for the fact that Toothless was in danger, not from the gigantic dragon or from drowning, but from the Viking he had nearly killed earlier today. I just watched the surface of the water, waiting for any signal. The pallet shook slightly, and a second later, Toothless rushed out of the water, just high enough to prevent dragging my father along the rocky coast. He dropped him gently onto the beach and jumped onto a boulder, shaking himself off. He looked at me with an intense glare and whipped his head with a grunt.

"You got it, buddy," I said. I jumped off the boulder and ran over to Toothless, my boots squelching with water along the way. There was no time for a hug, no time to apologize. The only time we had was enough time to get airborne. Toothless wanted to end the threat to himself, the rest of the dragons and (hopefully) me. He was interested in killing this gargantuan dragon. But he couldn't do it alone. As I ran over to Toothless, an idea took shape in my mind. The sky was overcast with dark clouds. This was next-to-ideal conditions for a Night Fury attack. The best scenario would have been cloudy night, but we couldn't wait that long. What we were about to do was going to be crazy, just like I had said to Astrid.

"HICCUP!" my father shouted from several yards away. He ran toward us and put his hand gently on my boot. I was mildly surprised Toothless didn't try to bite his hand off or at least growl at him. He just looked at my father, waiting. "I'm sorry. For everything!"

I looked at him, looked down and said quietly, "Yeah. Me too."

"You don't have to go out there, you know," he said. _Translation: Don't try what you're thinking about,_ I thought. Part of me was saying he was correct, that I should stay on the ground. But I knew with Toothless protecting me, we were the only ones who could stop this gargantuan dragon.

I shrugged. "We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard."

"I-I'm proud to call you my son," he slowly choked out.

To me, it sounded genuine, like he really meant it. "Thanks, Dad," I said.

He let go of my boot, which I took to mean Toothless and I were going to stop this dragon or die trying. I took a quick breath, checked my connections to the saddle and said to Toothless, "Let's go." Without hesitation, he took off.

"HE'S UP!" Astrid shouted. She and the Nadder flew probably too close to the giant dragon, as it noticed and gaped its mouth wide open. The Nadder immediately began struggling to fly. The monster's chest was beginning to expand, which told me the dragon was trying to swallow Astrid and her dragon. Astrid and the Nadder were both panicking, mere yards from the dragon's teeth.

"Get 'im, Toothless!" I shouted. He streaked several hundred feet up and pulled off a turn that surprised even me. Within half a second, Toothless had gone from a full-tilt rise to a stoop with pure grace and speed. I grinned sadistically because this dragon had no idea what was coming.

Toothless started on his ballistic scream, which was way louder on his back than it would ever be on the ground. As it rose in pitch, his speed increased exponentially, making it look like we were going to plow straight through the dragon. But I trusted Toothless with my life, knowing he had done this several times. He certainly had enough experience with our catapults.

I felt a jarring vibration thrum up through my feet and legs as he unleashed a fireball directly at the dragon's neck, just in front of its shoulders. Toothless immediately spread his wings, and I clicked toe-up to give us more lift to get out of the way. There was a hollow-sounding explosion as the fireball hit true on the dragon's neck.

For the gazillionth time, I had no idea Toothless could pack this much power, as the monstrous dragon staggered about three steps to its right, roaring in surprise. Astrid flew off her Nadder, who crashed into the ground and lay there, eyes open. Completely stunned. It was still breathing though. Astrid was completely helpless a hundred feet up, and if I didn't do something…

"Toothless, get Astrid!" I shouted. He wheeled back around and spied Astrid hanging in midair. Pulled into a shallow dive and flew in a straight line to Astrid. I felt his brain working, knowing where to be to grab her just before she hit the ground. As we approached Astrid, I heard her screaming above the rushing wind. _Come on, Toothless, you can do this_, I thought.

Astrid disappeared from view as Toothless neared her. His front left leg extended slightly, but I had no idea if he had caught her or not. "Did you get her!?" I shouted.

He looked down just as Astrid shouted, "GO, HICCUP!" He flashed her one of his goofy "toothless" grins. Toothless set her down on the beach and rose higher in the air. I was following his lead, keeping an eye on the gargantuan dragon, who was just now getting its footing.

The dragon brought its front right foot up while looking at the ground. I checked the area where it was going to step, which contained a Gronckle and a trapped Fishlegs. I realized Fishlegs and Snotlout hammering on their shields while on dragons wasn't a good idea. Their dragons became just as dazed as their target. Just before the dragon stomped, Snotlout appeared on the top of its faceplate and struck it in an eye with his hammer. He had miraculously held on when Toothless struck. I noticed the dragon had three eyes on a side, not one. Total six eyes. This ordeal was getting creepier by the minute. Snotlout continued striking its eyes as the dragon missed its spot. The leg crashed harmlessly a few feet away from Fishlegs and his dragon. The Gronckle still wasn't moving, even with an emergency this big. I rolled my eyes slightly in irritation. Fishlegs quickly scrambled out from underneath his dragon and ran to safety. Eventually, the Gronckle righted itself and followed. Astrid's Nadder stood, shook itself off and flew over to her. The Nadder stood protectively between her and the dragon, who was for the moment focused on Snotlout's antics.

The dragon roared as Snotlout was proving to be too difficult to handle on its head. It shook its head violently, trying to dislodge Snotlout, who dropped his hammer but grabbed onto a coral-like protrusion near the dragon's right eyes. He scrambled back up and ran toward its snout shouting something and jumped.

I had seen too many close calls today to keep thinking straight, so I figured Snotlout was a goner. Toothless and I were too far away to catch him. But the twins came out of nowhere on the Zippleback, catching Snotlout in between the dragon's necks.

_Just get everyone out of there,_ I thought. The plan I had forming in the back of my mind was ready to go, because I noticed something new.

"That thing has wings!" I shouted. "Let's see if it can use them." Toothless must have understood what I was saying, because he U-turned again and started into another stoop. He gave his ballistic scream and landed another fireball exactly where his first one had it, opening a large gash in the dragon's neck. The dragon was ready this time, however, and was able to brace itself against the second fireball. It roared in frustration as its wings spread.

"Toothless, UP!" I shouted, pulling upward on the saddle. I noticed the massive dragon wasn't too shabby a flyer. In fact, it had no problem keeping up with Toothless. "Well, it can fly!" I stated obviously. Toothless banked upwards as the dragon had its sights set on us. I heard it suck in a deep breath. Nudged Toothless with my left leg, trying to get him to fly right. Clicked toe-in. He banked hard right just as the dragon launched a stream of fire that nearly reached the clouds above us. I saw where it stopped, noticing the clouds had gotten darker since our arrival.

The dragon was following Toothless's every move, keeping only a few yards behind his tail. I knew we were in trouble if we just used speed to try and bring this thing down. We needed stealth as well. I looked at the clouds again. _Bingo_. "All right, Toothless. Time to disappear!" I clicked toe-up as he banked upwards yet again, flying straight into the clouds. Nudged him with my left leg this time to get him to turn right. The dragon was a few seconds behind us.

I couldn't see a thing in these clouds because they were so dark. This was very good. I just hoped the dragon also relied on sight, not just hearing and smell. I heard the dragon slow its pace to stall in midair, looking around for the Night Fury that had blasted a hole in its neck and gotten away last night. The dragon was holding its position in the air with its back facing us. Exactly the way I wanted.

"_Hit his wings_," I whispered to Toothless. He dropped to his left and, for the third time today, started into a ballistic scream. He launched a fireball directly at the dragon's left wing. The dragon noticed the bright flash but couldn't react fast enough. The fireball hit true, tearing a large hole in the center of the dragon's left wing. Toothless banked upward slightly and turned right, reacting to a nudge from my left knee. I hoped the dragon wouldn't look this way, hoped its basic logic couldn't keep up with me and Toothless. The dragon turned slightly, keeping its back facing us.

"_Again,_" I whispered. Without starting a ballistic scream, Toothless quickly flew up to the dragon and shot another fireball at its right wing. Another large hole was the result. I gave a small fist pump as I saw the explosion dissipate, noticing holes in each wing. But it wasn't enough. The dragon wasn't struggling to fly yet. We had to get it to struggle before tricking it one final time.

Toothless flew past the dragon, who was turning around yet again. He stalled and fired two more times, one at each wing, in rapid succession. The left wing was the last to get hit, so I nudged Toothless with my left knee. I knew the dragon would turn to its left because that was the last side to get hit. If we could just stay in its blind spot… Sure enough, the dragon rolled to its left and began flying in that direction. Back exposed to us yet again.

Toothless sped into the clouds to disappear again. I heard the dragon roar in anger, as it couldn't find us. Toothless stalled with the dragon's silhouette just barely in view. It roared again, daring Toothless to come out to play. For real. The dragon made a slow turn to its right, coming to face us. "_Toothless, up,_" I whispered, pulling gently upward on the saddle. Clicked toe-up. He flew higher into the clouds without hesitation. We were the ideal team. I told Toothless where to hide, and he provided the muscle of the operation.

The dragon roared in anger again. It was getting frustrated we were playing cat-and-mouse with it, but this was the way I had in mind to bring it down. Slow attrition.

As soon as Toothless broke above one layer of clouds, I knew something was bad. The mist suddenly became particularly thick, and a strong wind current was blowing us straight toward the dragon. Our cover was about to be blown if I didn't think of something. And fast. I noticed the dragon was still facing in our general direction, well, maybe turned a little to our left. So I nudged Toothless with my left knee, hoping to slide around the dragon. I clicked toe-in to help Toothless move, but the wind was too strong. Toothless bleated in panic because he couldn't do anything. The dragon perked and apparently noticed us, because it gave a short roar. It pumped harder with its wings, trying to gain more altitude.

This was it. Time for improvisation. I noticed the dragon was still rising, moving to catch us on a straight line. However, I knew a straight line was the _last _place I wanted to go. I watched as the dragon's form became larger as we approached it. Closer. Closer. It roared in anticipation. Toothless held steady, waiting for my command. He trusted me with his life, knowing I had something up my sleeve. I saw the dragon pull in a breath. It was ready to incinerate me and Toothless. I whispered, "_Toothless, down!_" Clicked toe-down. Toothless shot downward, bringing us dangerously close to the dragon. It unleashed a wall of fire which harmlessly burned through the clouds. We were directly underneath the dragon when I realized I didn't even feel the heat from its fire. Toothless was that fast. I clicked to neutral then to toe-up to get Toothless back up. As we reached the dragon's height again, Toothless quickly whirled around, ready for two more shots at the dragon's wings.

The dragon must have seen us dart underneath it, as it folded its wings upward to prepare for a dive. Toothless blasted two more fireballs, hitting true. I nudged him with my right knee, and he banked left into the clouds once more. Those two hits might have sealed its fate, because the wings were folded. It gave the fireballs more skin to tear through.

I heard the dragon roar again, but this time it was different. The dragon's expression was turning from anger to manic. And I knew we had to be careful about this. I had seen a Deadly Nadder turn manic several years ago during a raid on Berk. Nobody had any idea what caused it to happen, but people still have nightmares about it to this day. The Nadder literally had no control over its movements. Its eyes were bloodshot, and it was making short, erratic movements, hopping from place to place, screaming and throwing tail spikes and white-hot fire in every direction. It didn't matter whether there was a target nearby. It looked like it was having a massive seizure. Blood was pouring from its mouth as it whipped around because it had bitten through its tongue. Several Vikings were either injured or killed within five seconds of seeing that dragon. Not even a Monstrous Nightmare went near that thing. Eventually, someone wisened up and told us to stay clear of the Nadder, where it eventually collapsed in exhaustion over a cliff. We were pretty sure it drowned that night.

The dragon roared in the same tone again, that higher-pitched, almost tinny ring. My heart rate quickened, remembering that horrendous night with that Nadder. I took a few breaths and realized all we had to do was wait it out. Just let the dragon kill itself from exhaustion. No problem.

Except for one thing. The twins hadn't found its shot limit, because the dragon pulled in a massive breath. It spewed fire in all directions, making the sky turn a brilliant yellow. The fire burned through the clouds, giving Toothless and me a view of the dragons' island, at least a mile below. The dragon stopped with the fire and pulled in another breath. Started blasting again. Random directions, no rhyme or reason to its movements. The dragon tried to roar and shoot fire at the same time, resulting in a bizarrely high-pitched gargle and broken streams of fire. I watched it from a distance, knowing at any second, the flames could come sweeping in our direction. I had to be ready to tell Toothless quickly enough to avoid getting torched.

From my right, the flames quickly moved toward us. I shoved down on Toothless's saddle, yelling, "_DOWN!_" Toothless dropped, but I felt a faint shock roll through his tail. I didn't want to look, but I had to. If it was what I thought, I'd have to figure out a way to trick the dragon. Since it was in a manic state, I figured _that_ wouldn't be too hard.

I glanced back and saw a few small flames licking at Toothless's prosthetic tail fin. _Not good_, I thought. "Oh man. Time's up!" I shouted. I needed just enough of a window to get the dragon's attention and make it follow. I knew Toothless could dive with or without his tail fin. Changing directions, however, would be problematic.

I nudged Toothless with my right knee and clicked toe-in to get him to turn left. He flew exactly where I wanted. No hesitation, no second thoughts. We were headed straight for a point just in front of the dragon's face. The dragon noticed Toothless veering toward it and turned toward us with a massive roar. I saw it too and pushed Toothless with my left knee, making him edge right. Just far enough away from the dragon so that we wouldn't get impaled.

The dragon took the bait and gnashed at the air where we had been just a few milliseconds ago. "Come on, is that all you got!?" I shouted. Toothless drove the point home by stalling and launching a fireball at its forehead. The dragon screamed and lunged forward, ready to end our little game once and for all.

Except I wasn't gonna end it yet. As soon as I saw the lunge, I shoved Toothless's saddle down again. He broke into a steep dive as I plastered my chest to his back. I glanced backward and saw the dragon break through the clouds mere yards from Toothless's tail. It chomped at the air, telling us it still had murder on its mind.

"_COME ON, BUDDY! JUST A LITTLE LONGER!_" I shouted. Toothless bleated in fear as he pumped his wings toward the ground, trying to get at least some distance between him and the dragon. But just like it had showed earlier, the gargantuan beast behind us proved it was a keen flyer. It didn't matter whether the direction was up or down.

But I noticed something. Or rather, a lack of something. Sound. My mind was tuning out the rushing wind on its own. I was totally focused on the dragon without even knowing it. On my game. In the zone. Listening. I stole another glance backward and saw the dragon still following close behind. Turned forward and noticed the dragons' island getting larger by the second. We had to finish this _now_.

"HOLD, TOOTHLESS." He held his dive steady, no wingbeats. I wanted the dragon to see a stationary target. Needed it to take the bait. _Just one more shot, buddy_, I thought. I had no idea what a Night Fury's shot limit was. Didn't care. All I needed was one more.

I closed my eyes, listening for any sign from the dragon. I heard it grunt in realization. I just had to hear one more sound. I knew once I heard it, we had about two seconds to finish the job. But for Toothless, a couple of seconds was about an hour longer than necessary to pull this off. I paused, listening, hoping the dragon would make one move. I tightened my grip on the handles in anticipation. Wait for it. Wait for it…

I heard the dragon pull in a breath and immediately shouted, "_NOW!_" Toothless whirled around in midair with all of his strength, took a quick breath and shot a massive fireball straight into the dragon's open mouth. It must have taken a lot of effort, because the grunt he made was almost as loud as his ballistic scream. I felt his chest contract violently with his effort. Time slowed almost to a standstill, just like the night of the dragon raid over a week ago. I watched the fireball on its track toward the dragon's open maw. As it passed the teeth, the dragon's mouth was illuminated with a dull blue glow.

Time sped up again as the dragon realized what happened too late. It shut its mouth around the fireball just as it met the back of its throat, creating what might have been the loudest muffled explosion ever. The force of the blast dislocated its lower jaw with two loud cracking sounds. The dragon tried to roar in pain, but only a smothered moan came out because its jaw was left hanging at a sickening angle. Dark crimson blood poured out of its mouth and the gash from Toothless's first salvo, falling upwards because of the speed we were traveling at. The dragon instinctively spread its wings to stop its descent. But thanks to the havoc that Toothless and I had wreaked, the wind simply tore its wings further. It sounded like when leather rips from trying to support too much weight. Its wings tore through within two or three seconds, turning this dive from a chase to suicide for the dragon. The dragon's flight stabilized just enough to fly a little more horizontally, but the dive was still inescapable. Just like I had wanted.

Toothless contorted his back and wings to right himself. I pulled up on his saddle, trying to get him to level out his flight. Clicked toe-up. Toothless tried to pull upward, but couldn't bank fast enough. I shot a glance backwards and saw the dragon tumbling forward in the air. The remnants of its wings told me only one thing: this was gonna be a horrific crash landing. "COME ON, TOOTHLESS! YOU CAN DO THIS!" I shouted in emergency. We had to get away from this dragon and land somewhere away from all the chaos. Where I could fix his tail fin, where I could help the rest of the Vikings organize a trip back. We had to land somewhere so that we could get home.

As Toothless finally bottomed out, the dragon passed us on its descent. I knew it was gonna flip over once it crashed. All three of the eyes on its left side had that glazed-over look. It was either dead or it realized its death was imminent. The dragon plowed headfirst into the ground. It exploded, sending rolling flames and debris in all directions. This explosion was different from the ones I was used to from dragons like Zipplebacks or a Night Fury. This was a low, hollow _whoosh_, more like a continuous blast rather than a single event.

I clicked toe-out and nudged Toothless with my right knee. He shrieked in horror as I felt no change in our flight. I looked back just in time to see the charred remains of his prosthetic tail fin detach and land on the rocks.

"_No, not now!"_ I whispered to myself. But I had to stay calm and guide Toothless out of this mess. I had let him down once today, and that was one time too many. "Come on, buddy! Stay with me! Just a little bit longer!" I shouted. Toothless was flying in desperation, hoping somehow he could get us away from the explosion. But straight flight was our only option. I thought we were flying high enough to get away from the flames as they rolled upwards, but the heat was searing through the air. I spied a small section of clear beach in front of us. If we could just keep our sights on that…

I gulped. The dragon's tail bounced on the ground, bringing the club-like appendage airborne. Right in our flight path. I clicked toe-up reflexively and yanked upward on the saddle. Hoped Toothless would spread his wings and slow down just enough to let the tail fall back to earth. But Toothless had no control over his flight. "NO! _NO!_" I shouted.

Toothless reared up with a screech to try and absorb most of the impact, but a second explosion occurred, flipping him around just before he met the tail. Pain wracked every joint in my body as I was thrown from the saddle, snapping the leather straps holding me to Toothless. Something crunched when my back flattened against the dragon's tail. I couldn't shout. Couldn't do anything as I watched the dragon's fiery carcass recede slightly then enlarge. I fell headfirst straight downward, about to meet the same fate as the dragon we had just tricked.

The last thing I saw before I blacked out from pain was a desperate Toothless, framed against the dark clouds, straining to reach me.


	15. Chapter 15

Not my son. Not Hiccup. Not anyone on Berk for that matter. I told Hiccup to stay on the ground. I wanted him out of the way, just like all the other times dragons were around. Where he would be safe and not accidentally risk everyone else's lives, like all the other times. But he didn't listen today. Maybe it was for the best. Maybe Hiccup saw he could end the Viking-and-dragon war. Even if it meant losing his life.

"HICCUP!" I shouted in panic. Maybe he was still alive. "SON!" Nothing. I headed toward the remains of that monster he and his dragon had just killed.

What really bothered me wasn't how Hiccup was keeping a dragon secret. For Odin's sake, it was a Night Fury, and I didn't care. What bothered me was…me. Because I did exactly what Hiccup did. I didn't listen to my own son. Too many things were happening at once. Especially when he told me his dragon could find this Thor-forsaken nest. His dragon. Toothless, I think, was its name. Toothless, indeed. I stopped a snort from erupting. Where did he get that sense of humor anyway? It wasn't from me. I just knew "Toothless" had teeth that could crush a man's skull.

I slipped on a large, smooth stone, finding my hand coated in red. Blood. I wiped it off using my vest. Checked to make sure I wasn't bleeding _that_ much. No gash. It was the beach. From the dragon. Whatever happened to it, it was definitely dead now. Thank goodness, but Hiccup was still nowhere to be seen.

I watched everything once the dragon and Night Fury came streaking back down to the ground. And I saw the explosion wrack the Night Fury, sending Hiccup directly into the dragon's tail. It happened in slow motion, seeing my own son nearly flattened against the end of the tail. He bounced off like a rag doll and tumbled headfirst into the fire. The Night Fury dove after him, but I wasn't sure if it could get to Hiccup. I knew if I saw any charred remains of a Viking, it was going to be Hiccup. I didn't want to look, but he was my only son. And it took something like _this_ to make me pay attention to him? That was all stupidity and ignorance.

I stopped. Looked straight ahead. A lone black figure on the beach. Maybe it was the Night Fury. Either that, or my eyes were playing tricks on me. I ran forward silently. The hunched shape got bigger as I approached. It was definitely real. Definitely a Night Fury.

I stopped immediately. After what I had done to Hiccup's dragon, I thought it might shoot me with a fireball. Slowly, I made my way toward the dragon, finding its head tucked underneath a wing, eyes closed. Both wings were wrapped around its body. The dragon was breathing heavily and straining with every breath. Every time it exhaled, I heard a quiet moan come from the dragon. It was injured. I looked down at its tail and found a mess of wires. Hiccup made all these. He spent the last week under everyone's noses helping this dragon fly again. One of the wires had bent and stabbed clean through the dragon's tail about three-quarters of the way down. There was only one tail fin. The other was missing. I remembered seeing a fin made out of leather when Hiccup's dragon was being lowered onto the boat as our compass. It must have lost the artificial fin during this battle. The Night Fury was slowly dripping blood from its tail. It took another breath, moaning slightly. If Hiccup were here, he'd know how to handle all this.

Gobber slowly walked up behind me and asked, "Is this Hiccup's dragon?" I nodded slowly. "Well, we might as well kill it, put it out of its misery," he said as if this was nothing to him. I was simply going to wave him off when he blurted out, "You wanted a Night Fury head mounted in your house, didn't you?"

I turned around and faced him. Looked at him like the chief of our village should do when someone is out-of-line. But said nothing. Because there were no words left. The expression on my face told him exactly what he needed to hear anyway. Gobber motioned again toward the dragon, but I stayed firm. If this dragon was going to die, I was going to make sure it would be warm and safe, not because somebody wanted the glory of being the first to kill a Night Fury. It only seemed fitting I should take care of something my son had started. Gobber shrugged with a resigned look on his face and backed up a few steps, giving me and the Night Fury space.

I turned back around and knelt near the Night Fury's head. Placed my hand gently on its neck. The dragon groaned slightly, craning its neck to look at me. I couldn't do anything but look back. I wished I had actually paid attention to the dragons we were fighting all these years, wished I could see them differently than murderous beasts. It took me an entire lifetime to figure that out. Hiccup? A week.

Looking at the Night Fury in front of me, I noticed it had two of the most beautiful yellow-green eyes anyone had seen. Two eyes that stared directly into your soul. The Night Fury stared at me with no change in its expression, like it was waiting for me to do something. But I knew a fireball wasn't coming right now.

"I'm…I'm sorry," I told it tearfully after a pause. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault." Normally, Vikings are supposed to be good at hiding emotions except anger and happiness, but I thought we should always make an exception when your family is in danger.

The Night Fury blinked. Paused for a second. It groaned as its wings slowly unfurled to reveal an unconscious Hiccup. The dragon had somehow gotten to him and held onto him with its legs. And shielded him with its wings. Hiccup had several gashes, bruises and maybe a few broken bones, but he was here.

"Hiccup?" I asked, reaching quickly for my son. I wasn't paying attention to the Night Fury holding him, because he was _my_ son. The dragon let me pick him up. I tossed my helmet to the side and put my ear against his chest. His heart was beating with a weak _thump-thump_ rhythm. But he was alive. Hiccup was safe.

"Y-you did it. You brought him back alive!" I said. I held onto Hiccup, making sure nothing else would get to him. The rest of Berk heaved a collective sigh of relief and murmured loudly in elation. All of us realized that Hiccup was our answer to those dragon raids. He knew what to do when we didn't. Because he dared to wonder.

I held Hiccup against my shoulder and placed a hand on the side of the Night Fury's head. It looked at me with a low rumble. "Thank you for saving my son," I said quietly. And I could have sworn the dragon blinked in understanding.

"Well, most of him, you know," Gobber said out of the blue. I didn't care. Hiccup was _alive_. He was safe. All because of the Night Fury lying on the ground in front of me. I stroked the dragon's cheek. The Night Fury sighed audibly and closed its eyes. In the space of a few hours, I had gone from thinking Hiccup was a fool for claiming to befriend a dragon, to adding one more blessing to count each day: a Night Fury. This dragon was a gift from the gods to Hiccup. And I didn't realize it until now.

I slowly stood and faced the rest of the Vikings here on the island, holding Hiccup in my arms. I noticed all of the dragons the children rode to this island were standing amongst the crowd. Regardless of having dragons around, it was time to be a chief again. And I was about to make a decision I never thought anyone on Berk would ever make.

"Find any boat we have left," I commanded. "Even if we only have rafts. Everybody will have to share space." The group of villagers nodded in assent, waiting for more instructions because I had that look on my face. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Opened them and looked at my people. "Bring the boat here, and we'll get Hiccup and his dragon on first." I motioned toward the Night Fury. I knew it would take up a lot of space on a boat, even more so with an injured tail like this. And I knew we had to take care of it now. I couldn't risk leaving it here, especially if we had to make more than one trip. The crowd, including the dragons, dispersed, most of them heading toward the boats. Hopefully we could at least find one that was still intact. The dragons wandered off somewhere else.

"STOICK!" a voice shouted. "We have one over here!"

"Tell him to bring it over here, like I told him," I said to Gobber. He nodded and limped toward the boat. Climbed in and motioned for several people to join him. A crowd gathered to push it into the water. Using wooden planks as oars, the boat slowly made its way over to me, Hiccup and his Night Fury. The boat landed maybe fifteen feet away from us. I boarded and placed Hiccup near the helm, where he would be generally safe and out of the way of people tromping around.

"Let's get a platform underneath the dragon," I suggested as I walked back toward the Night Fury. "And keep its tail straight_._" Several Vikings were near the boats the giant dragon had torched. One of them produced a long section of the hull. It might have been long enough to slide underneath the Night Fury. I motioned him to bring it over here.

I compared the length of the dragon to the plank, noting the plank was about two feet too short. "We can slide this under its tail. I'll hold the dragon's head. We need to get it into the boat first, then the Vikings." The Viking with me nodded. I wasn't interested in making small-talk, especially because I wanted to help a dragon all of a sudden. But I knew it was Hoark. The villager who loved to torment my son. Well, if I caught wind of him doing that again…let's just say it wouldn't end well for Hoark. He probably wasn't going to try again anyway, now that he knew Hiccup had a protector in the form of a Night Fury.

We slid the plank most of the way under the dragon's tail. It moaned in pain, which I knew it was going to do. We had to finish this job quickly. Walking my way up the dragon's side, I lifted it gently in sections to allow Hoark to move the board underneath the dragon. I had gotten to its neck when Hoark said, "That's the end of the plank." I nodded in understanding.

"You four," I said, pointing with four fingers. "Help us lift this dragon onto the boat." Nobody moved. Not when it meant getting near a dragon. I couldn't play the Look-After-Hiccup-If-You-Don't-Cooperate card this time because my son saved all of us. He was going to be a hero soon. I had to think of another reason for them to help. "Help us with the dragon," I said again. "Or I will leave you here." They slowly walked over, grumbling, and lifted the Night Fury. I kept its head level, although it groaned in pain again. "Don't let its tail slip." We slowly walked the dragon onto the boat and laid the plank down. Edged it toward the side of the boat to give us a little more room.

"We'll get everyone we can on this boat. If we need to make more than one trip, so be it. I will make sure everyone gets off this island by the end of the night." Villagers began filing onto the boat. Several of them tried to get as much distance as they could between themselves and the dragon. But the Night Fury paid no attention. It just sighed and kept its eyes closed. "Do _not_ touch the dragon," I said sternly. One Viking ignored me and knelt by the dragon's head. I was about to move toward her when I realized it was Astrid. She stroked the Night Fury's cheek and sat down next to it. The dragon opened its eyes and looked weakly at Astrid. Heaved a sigh and relaxed. I figured she wouldn't hurt the dragon. If anything, she was going to be the one to nurse it back to health.

When the boat was full, I took a rough count of how many Villagers we had left. About two trips' worth. This was going to be a long night, but I made a promise to my people. And as chief, I had to keep that promise. We pushed off and made the first of several trips back to Berk.

We hadn't made it far from the island when fog set back in. And Hiccup's dragon was going to be of no use to us now. Not when it was semi-conscious, and not when it was injured.

"Stoick!" a Viking said. "We can't see where we're going!"

At that moment, the boat glanced off a rock spire, sending a jarring shock through the hull. I winced in anticipation as the Night Fury slipped off the plank slightly. Its tail moved just enough to send a wave of pain through its body. We all heard it screech and begin panting.

"Get its tail straightened!" I shouted. "And somebody needs to be a lookout!" Astrid slid over to the Night Fury's tail and began moving it gently onto the plank. The dragon groaned as she moved its tail.

Out of nowhere came a loud cackle. It sounded like a dragon. And I knew we were in trouble because we had absolutely no way of defending ourselves. I stayed silent and continued forward, hoping we wouldn't sink or become a target. Glanced at our lookout. He was shaking with fear. Completely useless.

The cackle sounded again. Somebody pointed and shouted, "Nadder straight ahead!" Several Vikings panicked, rocking the boat and causing the Night Fury to wail in pain again.

"EVERYBODY STOP!" I shouted. The Vikings froze as we continued forward. I felt horrible for the dragon we had on board. All I wanted for it and Hiccup was to get home. I looked at Hiccup just to make sure. He was still unconscious, next to the helm. I turned my attention back to Astrid, watching her wince as she got the dragon's tail back in line with its body.

The Nadder slowly faded into view as it flapped its wings slowly. It cackled again, but there was something different about it. Like it wasn't going to attack. It looked like it was giving a signal. Like it was telling us where to go.

I stepped around Hiccup and took the helm. Turned left, to port. We slowly passed the dragon on our right. It cackled one more time.

"Nightmare to port! Turn right!" our lookout shouted. I followed his orders. A system was beginning to fall into place. The dragons were our markers, our lookout spotted them and told me where to go. There was a murmur on board as we passed the Nighmare on our left. It just looked at us as we sailed by.

We passed the Gronckle and Zippleback in the same fashion. They were serving as our beacons, showing us where to go. After we passed the Zippleback, the fog began clearing. In the distance lay the smallest-looking island anyone could pick out, but I knew it was the one place where everyone wanted to be. Home. I checked the boat. Hiccup was still out, lying next to me at the helm. His dragon was near the middle of the boat, resting. Maybe not comfortably because of its tail, but the dragon was here nevertheless. And Astrid was still on guard. I silently made a promise to Hiccup he was going to see his dragon again.

We docked at Berk after about an hour at sea and disembarked. The same four Vikings who had helped me and Hoark load the Night Fury came back and helped to unload it. Probably because they still thought I would hold my threat if they didn't help. We carried the dragon and Hiccup back to my house. Placed the dragon near the hearth. I walked upstairs and jumped as one of the steps made a loud cracking sound under my foot. I hadn't been upstairs in so long that I had forgotten about that step. Continued up, and found Hiccup's bed. Carried it downstairs. I paid that step that complained no mind. Placed the bed in the center of the downstairs area, next to the hearth. Next to the Night Fury, who needed to be tended. I put Hiccup into his bed and covered him, making sure he was comfortable.

I walked outside and found Gobber waiting for another trip. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

I nodded with a heavy sigh. "I need you to help the dragon," I said. I was placing my trust in him. I knew he was…different, but I had to see to it that my village was safe. Gobber was the only other person here I could trust. "There is a wire sticking through its tail. Take it out and bandage it. I promised Hiccup he's going to see his dragon again. Do _not_ make me break it."

Gobber recoiled slightly at the thought of actually taking care of a dragon. I glared at him a little more fiercely. "Got it," he said quietly. He hobbled inside while I walked back toward the boat for another trip.

I had gotten a few steps away from home when Astrid bumped into me, saying, "Sorry!" She continued inside.

I turned around and walked back. "Astrid, what are you doing?"

"Making sure Hiccup _and_ Toothless are okay," she said assertively. "I'll help Gobber."

I nodded in understanding and closed the door. Took a few steps and stopped when a loud shriek echoed through the village. Turned around again and reentered my house. I was ready to toss someone into the ocean when I walked in. I saw Astrid gently holding the Night Fury down and Gobber was holding the wire that had pierced his tail. The dragon was panting heavily from the pain, but I knew Gobber was going to hold his word.

"Yeah, but it hurt my ears more!" Gobber said. He quickly turned back to the dragon and grabbed a strip of soft leather and seaweed. He placed the seaweed over the two open wounds in the dragon's tail and wrapped it with the leather. The process was clean and efficient because he knew the dragon would bleed out if he paused.

"Go get the rest of Berk. You promised," Astrid told me quietly after Gobber had finished. I nodded and left without a word.

I arrived at the docks, where Spitelout was waiting for me. "They, uh, flew here after we docked," he said, motioning toward the four dragons nearby. Our beacons.

I smiled, knowing my job had just gotten much easier. "They know there are still people on the island." I motioned for Spitelout to join me in the boat. I needed someone who could help navigate because I felt sleep coming on and quickly. We launched, the dragons flying slightly ahead of us.

"Take the helm," I said to Spitelout. He did, and I sat down in the center of the boat, near where a small pool of dragon blood had formed. I tried to get a small nap in before we landed at the island again.

Four hours and two trips later, everyone was home. Spitelout and I took turns navigating. He helmed the boat on the trips to the island, and I was in charge during the trips back. I walked into our house a tired wreck, but thankful we had dragons helping us. The Night Fury was lying on its front with a bandage around its tail. The dragon looked at me with a soft grunt when I walked in. It had been watching Gobber and Astrid tend to Hiccup, who was now mostly covered in bandages. And the dragon looked concerned about something. Astrid was in tears.

"S-Stoick," Gobber said shakily. "I couldn't do anything about…"

I stopped him with my hand. I didn't want to hear any more bad news for the night, and I already had a sinking feeling about this. "It's fine. You can make one for him, right?" I asked.

Gobber's eyes brightened in realization. "It'll be ready tomorrow." I nodded. He clunked out of the house. I pulled up a chair and sat down next to Hiccup and the Night Fury. It was breathing rhythmically. Its head was resting on its front paws as it looked toward the bed. The dragon moaned slightly and glanced at me. To my ears, it sounded like the dragon was worried. Like it was asking me if Hiccup was going to be okay.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" I asked Astrid. She nodded silently. "Make sure the dragon doesn't hurt anything," I said.

Immediately, I wished I could have un-said that because Astrid replied with a hint of sarcasm, "He won't. He's too busy protecting Hiccup." I nodded in understanding and decided to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the night. It didn't help that I _thought_ the dragon gave me a sideways glance when I told Astrid to keep tabs on it.

Eventually, exhaustion took its toll on my mind. Astrid was already asleep, sitting at the table with her head in her arms. I stood up and put the chair back. Walked over to my bed and was asleep when I lay down.

* * *

Two days later, Hiccup was still out. I dropped by home periodically to check on Hiccup and the Night Fury. Each time back was the same scene. Hiccup was breathing, but wouldn't wake up. His dragon was sitting on its back legs next to the bed, watching Hiccup. Every time I walked in, the dragon looked at me with that same concerned expression but otherwise didn't move.

_This dragon really cares about Hiccup_, I thought. And two days ago, I knew dragons were the bane of our existence on Berk. But seeing this Night Fury so concerned about Hiccup told me there was more to dragons than just killing and stealing food. The Night Fury never meant any harm to anyone for the last two days. It hadn't eaten. I thought it might starve if Hiccup didn't wake soon. It had barely moved. All it did was wake up and watch over Hiccup. Like it was protecting him.

Meanwhile, Berk was changing. Because of my son. I decided to try something new with the way things were here. Actually, Astrid had suggested it, because she had a Deadly Nadder following her most everywhere on Berk. She could fly on the dragon, and it occasionally helped Gobber start fires for blacksmithing. But most importantly, the Nadder never attacked anyone. Although most people preferred to keep their distance. If dragons really weren't horrible creatures, why not have them around? We'd have to provide food and shelter, but that was a small concern. Both Fishlegs and Astrid reassured me dragons only ate fish. Tuffnut suggested feeding them eels, but something told me I shouldn't do it. He seemed a little too eager about it. I decided to let the eels wait until Hiccup awoke because he'd know what to do.

I held a town meeting on the second day and had Astrid and Fishlegs instruct everyone how to act around a dragon. And it was all common sense. Don't show yourself as a threat. Bring it fish. Simple as that. By the next day, we had several dragons milling around Berk. It certainly felt different here, having roughly a dozen fire-breathing reptiles in town. But we never had an incident, except for when a dragon or two wandered near the livestock. The yaks, sheep and chickens were still scared of the dragons. It wasn't too hard to get them away, especially if we had fish on hand.

In two days, without Hiccup's direct help, Berk felt truly _peaceful_.


	16. Chapter 16

My mind was stuck. I felt fully awake. But I had no idea about anything. It just felt…weird. Like I was swimming just barely under water. And I needed to take a breath, but every time I reached upward, the surface moved away. I was trapped here, in this limbo, or whatever you call it.

When someone was talking, I couldn't figure out what they were saying. I just recognized voices. There was Astrid's and Gobber's. My dad's voice was buried somewhere in that mess too. A few other people from around the village stopped by occasionally. But if Toothless was there, I never heard him.

Time made no sense to me. It seemed like days, or maybe minutes, but something finally started working. From out of nowhere, I felt a gentle wind touch my face. It sounded like a bellows. Kinda like the bellows Gobber and I used in the armory. But it smelled like fish.

Who in their right mind puts a fish in the bellows? A better question would be how in the world you could get a fish _into_ the bellows. Unless…

I opened my eyes to find a hazy black figure staring at me with two yellow-green eyes. Inches away. It pulled back and gave a short, raspy bark. My eyes focused and saw a Night Fury. It pulled its mouth into a toothless smile…

Toothless.

Everything cleared in an instant. Toothless shuffled towards me and licked me excitedly on the side of my face with a grateful moan. He was thrilled I was alive.

"H-hey there, buddy," I said weakly. He continued pushing into me. "Yeah, I'm glad to see you too." I touched his cheek just as he stepped on my stomach. I doubled over in pain with a groan, noticing I was mostly covered in bandages.

Toothless sat back on his haunches, wriggling with excitement. His eyes were massively round. He couldn't contain it anymore as he bounded throughout my house, knocking dishes and chairs over in the process.

Wait. I thought I was on the dragons' island. "I'm. In. My. House," I said slowly, looking around. "You're. In. My. House," I said pointing to Toothless as he jumped onto one of the rafters from the floor. A few wooden shards rained down as he used his back claws to balance himself on top of the wooden beam. He looked at me upside-down. He was truly excited I was okay. "Um, does my dad know about this?" I asked Toothless. He just continued gazing happily at me, giving another raspy bark.

I moved to get out of bed when I heard something that sounded like metal scraping across wood. It was coming from near my feet. Without thinking, I pulled the cover back to see what it was. And blanched. I slowly closed my eyes and took a deep breath, hoping what I saw was just an illusion. Opened them again. No change.

I had no left foot. Everything below my left knee was gone. In its place was a complex-looking metal peg. It was way more complicated than a standard wooden peg. This thing was composed of two metal pieces, which were spring-loaded against each other. I had small ropes wrapping around my left thigh to keep the prosthesis in place.

I slowly sat up with my legs hanging over the edge of my bed. Placed my right foot on the ground, followed by the peg. Toothless jumped off the rafter, landing with a hollow _ka-thump_ and padded over. He gently sniffed at the peg and slowly brought his gaze up to meet my eyes. I tried to hide the tears from Toothless. Tried to let him know that I was strong, that I was gonna be okay. We had killed that gigantic dragon, for crying out loud. But one of them got out. He watched it slide down my face. Sighed. Leaned over and brought his chin to rest on my right shoulder, eyes closed. Toothless rumbled gently, letting me know that he was here, that he was gonna take care of me.

I wrapped his neck in a hug and whispered, "Thanks, Toothless." He murmured softly in response. I let a few more tears fall because I didn't have to be invincible emotionally, like a stereotypical Viking. Toothless was the pillar I could lean on when I needed support.

I let go of Toothless, and he pulled back, looking at me with those big, round yellow-green eyes. Every time he looked at me like that, I felt calmer. I had no idea why, but it always worked.

I stood with most of my weight on my right side. Took two deep breaths and stepped. I stumbled forward slightly with a grimace, landing on my right foot. It felt like a bolt of lightning had just shot through my left knee, where the prosthesis was resting. I paused. Tried another step. This time, I couldn't catch myself because the pain was too much. Couldn't move fast enough. I saw the floor ready to meet my face when Toothless ducked his head under my chest and caught me. He lifted up just enough so that I could stand again.

"Thanks, bud," I said. Toothless helped me limp toward the door. I looked back and saw his tail was bandaged from an injury fighting the giant dragon. But his tail had only one fin. Just like me. I only had one leg now. We matched.

I let go of Toothless and hobbled as I pulled the door open. As soon as I got a small gap between the door and the frame, I heard a loud roar. Slammed the door shut and collapsed on the floor from stepping on my left leg again. I stood up with a worried look on my face because the Viking-and-dragon war hadn't ended yet. There was a Monstrous Nightmare just outside my door, probably the same one Toothless had defeated. Not good. Especially if it saw Toothless.

"Toothless, stay here," I said. Slowly limped the door open and found the same Nightmare, but it…looked…happy? I cautiously hobbled through the doorway, knowing I could meet my fate at any second. But the dragon just looked at me with the same expression. I stepped fully outside the door, and the dragon gently rubbed its snout into my chest. Like it was thanking me.

"Aw, geez! _That's_ what you were worried about!?" Snotlout shouted from next to the Nightmare. "You killed that giant dragon, put your life on the line, and you're scared of _him_?"

Something was terribly wrong here. The war hadn't ended, and Snotlout had a dragon? "I knew it. I'm dead," I said to no one in particular.

"No, but you gave it your best shot," my father said from my right. He walked toward me and asked, "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" I replied. "I don't know…Is this a joke or something?"

He shook his head. "Turns out, all we needed was a little more of…" He paused, waiting for the right words to come to him. I had a hunch about where he was going. "This," my father concluded, motioning in my general direction.

For sixteen years, I had just wanted someone _at some point in time_ to come up with a better description of me. But even I couldn't think of one. "This" fit me perfectly, because I was Hiccup. "You just gestured to all of me," I pointed out.

He nodded and smiled. My father knew it too. I was perfectly suited to be the one and only Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III.

"Well, most of you," Gobber chimed in as he loped up the steps toward me. "That bit's my handiwork," he said, motioning toward the prosthetic leg. "With a little Hiccup flair thrown in. Do you think it'll do?"

"I might make _a few_ adjustments," I said quietly. He and my father laughed.

I stood, taking the moment in, when something collided with my right shoulder. My weight fell onto my left side, and my left leg buckled from the pain. I stepped forward with my right leg and put all of my weight onto it, letting the sizzle on my left knee die down. Hopped around and found an irritated Astrid. Her arms were crossed.

"_That_ was for scaring me!" She glared at me to make sure her message sunk in.

"What is this!? Is it always going to be this way with you?"

Before I could do anything (not that I could move very quickly, mind you), Astrid leaned in and planted a kiss on my lips. My eyes widened in surprise before I relaxed, the pain in my left leg melting away.

"Yep," she said, pulling away from me with a grin.

"…Because…I _could_ get used to it," I said quietly.

"You ready, Astrid?" Snotlout shouted excitedly.

"You betcha! Hiccup, are you coming?"

"Where?" I asked.

"Racing," she replied.

"Yeah, right. I can't even walk right now."

"I don't think you have to. You've got…" she paused briefly. "…A _dragon_, right?"

At that moment, somebody shouted "NIGHT FURY! GET DOWN!"

I had forgotten to close the door to keep Toothless from getting out. He barreled out of the house, shoving Vikings out of the way to get to me. Just like when I woke up, he was wriggling with excitement. He wanted to fly. I looked at Toothless, who must have been yearning for some time in the air when I realized something. "Aw, buddy, you're gonna need a new tail fin," I pointed out. I remembered he lost it during the battle with that giant dragon. Where I lost my leg.

"Hiccup, I believe you're in luck, today," Gobber said. "You might need these." He handed me the saddle I made for Toothless. There was the connecting cable, but the ratchet was missing. Some kind of hasp was on the left side of the saddle.

"Is…Is this the saddle I made for Toothless?" I asked, looking at it like it was some strange but beautiful creature.

"Yep, and you'll need this too," Gobber said like it was nothing. He placed a tail fin on top of everything. It wasn't brown, like the one I had made. That one was on the dragons' island, charred to a crisp. This fin was a bright red with a caricature of a skull painted on one side.

"You did all of this?" I asked Gobber. He nodded with a small grin. "Wow, thanks," I said quietly.

"You can thank me later," he said. "Right now, I believe you have some flying to do."

I smiled as I turned toward Toothless. He sniffed at the new equipment and crouched slightly, telling me to get it on his back soon. He didn't need to ask me twice, but my left leg did. I knelt gingerly, pain thrumming up through my left thigh. But if Gobber and several of the other Vikings were able to walk around with a peg, then I could do it too. I quickly got the strap around Toothless's front left leg. Shuffled over to his right side and did the same thing, left leg in pain and all. Toothless licked me on the side of the face with a quiet rumble as I fumbled with the strap. He was telling me to calm down, that we could get in the air soon enough.

I limped to his tail and strapped on the new fin. Everything was perfectly measured, as if I had inexplicably woken up, made all this and went back to sleep. But there was a reason Gobber was the master blacksmith of Berk. He proved he wasn't too shabby at metal- and leatherworking. The connecting rod from the wire to the fin was different too. It was a failsafe, because the eyelet opened and closed, like a carabiner. This was almost too good to be true. Gobber had plenty of time, no rush to get this equipment done. And it was spot-on perfect.

I stumbled to the right side of the saddle as Toothless crouched again. Hopped on with less fuss than walking and clicked the peg into the stirrup. There was yet another failsafe, as my peg locked into the stirrup. Not only that, I had something I was trying to avoid when I first designed Toothless's saddle: a range of motion. A continuum. There were no preset positions. What I did with my left leg translated directly into the fin's movements. No more ratchet, no more remembering which position did what to the fin. It was intuitive now.

I briefly closed my eyes and took a deep breath, thinking about everything that happened this past week. From shooting down a Night Fury named Toothless to simply being there for him every day to killing that gigantic dragon. But the most important thing happened afterward, when I finally woke up after however long it was. Toothless was there for me. After all he had been through, he stayed by my side. Without fail, he stayed.

I thought about how crazy it was to shelter a dragon for a week, keeping on the down-low about it. For all the pain and suffering Toothless and I went through this past week, I'd have done it all over again. Because I saw what Toothless meant to me when I woke up today. He wasn't just a gift from the gods, a statement from them to the rest of Berk that dragons were misunderstood. Toothless was my protector. He was my shoulder to cry on. He was my support.

He was everything I needed him to be.

I opened my eyes, finding Astrid, Fishlegs, Snolout and the twins on the dragons they had ridden into battle. All of them were looking at me, ready for an adventure. I glanced down at Toothless and said, "Well, you ready, bud?" He looked back at me with an excited grunt. I grinned. "_Let's go_," I said quietly. Toothless crouched, tensing. I tightened my grip on the handles as he took off.

It felt amazing to fly just because we could. Well, except for the dull fire in my left knee. I paid attention to everything, like all the colors around us had intensified. I felt the wind rushing through my hair as Toothless banked left while gaining height. I rolled in with my peg slightly, feeling the bank tighten. Toothless began losing a little altitude, but there was ground just below us. No problem. He landed with a gallop and took off again.

Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs and Ruff and Tuff were just behind us. Sure, race, whatever. I didn't care about any race they wanted to do. I just wanted to fly with Toothless, and that was all.

"Let's go, bud," I said to him as he gained height. I had no say in where we were going, and I didn't care. Wherever the wind took us, that was fine with me.

I stole a glance down, toward Berk. Everything was there, just like it was supposed to be. Vikings milling around town. The armory and its characteristic black smoke from the coals. The great hall, just above our house. The docks with a few boats ready to launch. Everything was perfect.

As Toothless gained enough height to level, I noticed the wind was a little cooler than that first day we truly flew. Winter was coming again, but hey, that's nine months out of the year for us. Two-and-a-half months are hail. Two weeks are what we call "summer." Our growing season is way too short to have anything palatable to eat here. But it's one very important place to all of us: home.

Toothless banked upward, pulling my gaze in front of us. I didn't even have to think about his tail fin. In fact, if I stood just slightly off the saddle, Toothless's rhythm put his fin exactly in time with his wingbeats. He never checked or tilted on his bank upward.

I looked at the clouds in front of us. Wondered how high Toothless could go. If the wind took him there, that would be great. If it took him back to Berk for the day, that would be great too. For once, I didn't have a care in the world. And after we landed, I still wouldn't have a care in the world. Because everyone knew about these amazing pets called dragons that are far better than, say, ponies or parrots.

Toothless pumped his wings harder. I stood from the saddle slightly, letting him do the work with his tail and wings. I felt his breaths coming in massive gasps. His tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth. No doubt, he was ecstatic. Toothless gave a jubilant roar as he aimed upward, trying to reach the sky.


End file.
